Fullmetal Heart
by GyroTheGyro
Summary: I've wanted for a long time fill in the holes that we were left to ourselves to imagine at the end of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, and so upon my anger and frustration at my powerlessness to be able to draw those things, I've taken to writing my own after credits story, about all the things that happen after the Promised Day.
1. What Now?

Fullmetal Heart

Foreword: I've wanted for a long time fill in the holes that we were left to ourselves to imagine at the end of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, and so upon my anger and frustration at my powerlessness to be able to draw those things, I've taken to writing my own after credits story, about all the things that happen after the Promised Day, the first few chapters will cover the very afterwards and the couple of years after but it should move along pretty quickly after that into later years and so forth, so here it is, a happy ending for a happy ending.

 **Chapter 1: What Now,**

"Ed?" Alphonse said as he awoke, the sun beaming down on his eyes, the smell of gunpowder attacking his nostrils, the warm air surrounding him, his ears began to fill with the sounds of all the people surrounding him. Many were in tears, others were embracing each other, their laughter filling the air. In a way it was like a reverse funeral, a new life brought into the world, and the people around him covered in white, and instead of cries of pain they were cries of happiness. Looking around, feeling himself, Al couldn't help but burst into tears and embrace his brother, and for the first time in more than four years the two hugged each other with their own arms. Al looked at his brothers face, and he saw something amazing, it was so rare that he'd forgotten that it ever existed, but he saw across his brothers face, a smile plastered so genuinely and naturally. It had been so long since he saw his brother smile like that, without worry or fear about what would happen next. In his smile resided a happiness so great that it resonated with Al and he couldn't stop smiling himself. The Elric brothers were finally whole again and with that wholeness came a sense of relief that was shared not only with the two brothers but with everyone around them… no with the entire country of Amestris.

Al began to push himself up and was surprised to find he couldn't. Al looked at his fingers and noticed how thin they were. 'Oh yeah, I forgot about how weak this body is' Ed noticed his attempt and helped Al up and onto his shoulders.

"I've got you Al, we've got to get you to a hospital, I know that not consuming anything for four years can't be good for your health."

"Hahaha, yeah i guess you're right brother." The two brothers began to walk towards the exit of the central fortress, they managed to speak with Ling as they went along, after their conversation Al stopped for a moment and bent down to speak with Mei.

"Thank you for your support on our journey Mei."

"Oh Alphonse you don't have to thank me." Mei blushed "Just make sure you visit me in Xing sometime."

"I will Mei, I promise." Mei motioned for Al to come closer so she could whisper something into his ear. Al bent himself down and let Mei get up close.

"I will be waiting for you Al." She whispered, and then with the opportunity she snuck a kiss onto Alphonse's cheek, which caused him to blush and make a very wide eyed turn back to Edward's shoulder.

"What did she tell you Al?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all." Which was met with much skepticism from Ed, but he continued on nonetheless. The two ended up meeting with Major Armstrong on the way there who promptly insisted upon carrying the two of them to the hospital, to which they refused at first but upon his HEAVY insistence they agreed, and therefore made it to the hospital upon the back and shoulder of a giant. While in the hospital another man was at work for all the plans that were to come after the promised day.

"Well there's someone you need to heal first." Roy Mustang might have wanted to see again but he didn't want to open his eyes to a world without his Knight, Jean Havoc, and he intended fully to bring him back in and up to speed with his entourage. Other than getting his eyesight healed, Mustang was busy learning all that he could about Ishval and it's people so that he could return the province to its former glory before the massacre. With Fureur King Grumman currently in power it was agreed between them that while Major General Mustang was working in Ishval that Grumman would set the pieces in place for Mustang to turn the country into a democracy once he stepped down. Despite the fact that Grumman was in a place of absolute power he was ready to retire, and in all honesty he was only holding that spot for a temporary replacement until someone who was the right age and ready to lead stepped up. Mustang sat in waiting with people he couldn't see around him while he waited for the procedure to be complete, a day after Havocs recovery and Mustang was under the "knife" per say. He heard the doctor walk into the room and prepared himself, there was absolute silence as the procedure began and an unknown hand grabbed his, and then just like that it was over, the doctor told him to slowly open his eyes to adjust to the light, and as he looked around the room he noticed his entourage and a few medical staff surrounding him. He looked down and notice that the hand that had clasped his was that of Riza Hawkeye, he blushed a little and realised something. With no explanation he dashed out of the room and rann to the front desk. "Where's the room of Edward Elric!?" He exclaimed at the startled nurse.

"Umm… The Elric brothers are currently located in room 113." With that Mustang began diligently searching the first floor for room 113.

"111… 112… Aha! There it is, 113." Mustang hadn't been able to see them before and thus had not experienced the rush of emotion yet, so he took a deep breath, composed himself and walked into the room. "Edward its been a while since I've really seen you." he looked at Edwards right arm and turned to see Alphonse's body. Mustang walked up to Edward and just hugged him for a moment.

"Um… Mustang? What is this?"

"Sorry Edward, I just… I'm proud of you two brothers."

"Oh, thanks Mustang"

"Oh and Ed, if you tell anyone about this, I'll burn you to a crisp, got me?"

"Yeah you bastard colonel."

"Oh yeah speaking of I actually am a Major General now, with all the senior staff gone, they had to fill in the gaps and so now I'm a Major General."

"That's not the only thing you got, I see. Or more correctly you see."

"Ah yeah Dr. Marcoh was able to fix my eyesight with a philosopher's stone, and before you get mad I only did it so I would be able to better assist the repair campaign in Ishval."

"Don't worry Major General, I would be so petty as to judge you for your own choices on what's right and wrong, at this point if I didn't trust your morals we wouldn't be here discussing it, not that it would matter considering I'm in no shape to fight you either way."

"I'm glad you think so Fullmetal."

"Oh and by the way I don't go by that title anymore, considering that the promised day is over and what the state alchemist program was designed to do, I wish to take no part in it, considering you plan on making this country less militaristic anyways it's not like there will be much need for state alchemists anymore."

"Oh but I'm sure we could still use your help Ishval and the repair efforts there."\

"Mustang, even if I wanted to I can't"

"What do you mean?"

"My alchemy, it's gone, I traded my alchemy for Al's body."

"Oh so when you said that was your last transmutation, you really meant it…"

"Don't worry Roy, I realized something, it's what made me figure out how to get his body back, even without my alchemy, I've still got people out there that will treat me as their friend and that's all I really need." Edward smiled at the general in a way that let him know there was nothing to worry about.

"Wow… that's pretty sappy, but I guess you're right, well then where do you plan to go from here?"

"Me and Al have been discussing that, and we think we've struck on something new that we'd like to put into practice, it'll involve some traveling, so we'll be gone for a while but once we come back I guess if all things go well, I'm going to settle down in resembool with Winry."

"I knew it, so you two are together then?"

"No, but I do plan on asking her."

"I owe an old friend some money then."

"What! You were betting on me and Winry?!"

"Well, an old friend and I had placed some bets on which of you would ask the other out first."

"You bastard, I can't believe you, well then if we're on the topic then I should ask, when are you going to ask Hawkeye out?" Roy gasped loudly at the question as his face turned a bright red.

"W-well I-I hadn't r-really thought about t-that, what does it matter to you pipsqueak?!"

"Hey, I'm almost taller than you!"

"Whatever shortie."

"Shouldn't you be getting back to your posse? I hear your supposed to be studying up on the Ishvalans."

"Ugh, you too? Everyone is pestering me about that nowadays."

"It is your ambition isn't it?"

"Yeah I suppose so. Anyways I guess I'd better get going, you take care Edward."

"You too General." With that the General left the room and Edward laid back down in his hospital bed." Ed sat there a moment thinking to himself, even though he had accepted the fact that he wouldn't be able to use alchemy ever again, he still hadn't gotten used to it, and on impulse he found himself putting his hands together to realize nothing had happened. Despite that he still tried his best to acclimate to this new way of life.

Soon after Roy left their hospital room Al awoke from the longest deepest sleep he'd ever had.

"Ed, it feels really good to be back in my body again."

"Haha, I've noticed, you've been asleep for the past twelve hours, though I'm not surprised, considering how weak your body is right now sleeping is probably one of the only things you can do right now. That's ok though Alphonse, you have the right to enjoy that body as much as you want to."

"Hehe, I guess you're right brother, I'll enjoy it as much as physically possible."

"That's the spirit Al."

Roy walked back down the hallway to his room, his slippers making a muffled tapping as he strolled along. Arriving at his room he found a series of glaring faces directed at him.

"Sorry guys I had some important business to take care of."

"You wanted to see the Elric brothers with your own eyes right?" Riza accused. Roy's face drooped into a frown.

"I'm simultaneously proud, and scared that you somehow know everything that I do." Roy thought back to the conversation he had a few minutes ago.'Well then if we're on the topic then I should ask, when are you going to ask Hawkeye out?' 'That's right Ed, once i fix this country and I can happily trust the future of this country to work out, then I'll ask her.' but that would come for at least a little while, and considering he was still healing, he was just going to have to trust Grumman to uphold their promise while he held the seat of power. It's not like the country was going to run off while he laid here in bed. Back in the Elric's room the brother's were discussing their new theory.

"This really could be something big we've hit upon here big brother."

"Yeah, if we can pull this off it might even change not only alchemy but Amestris as a whole, and we'd be helping Mustang accomplish his goal at the same time."\

"Oh brother, speaking of change I need to tell you something."

"What is it Al?"

"Well… I was thinking about it… and I've decided."

"Decided what Al?"

"I'm going to change my surname to Hohenheim."

"WHAT?"

"Well, I've thought about it, and I realised that dad has done a lot for us, and whether we realize it or not he did all of this to protect us, I think that as a sign of respect, I should change my name to reflect the fact that I'm proud to be his son."  
"Al, I'm not going to say something as stupid as 'Thats dumb' 'Or you shouldn't' but I still don't forgive him for walking out on mom, and I don't plan on changing my name."

"Don't worry I knew you were going to say something like that, and I don't plan on just dropping mom's name like that, i'm going to change it to something like Elric-Hohenheim."

"I'm fine with that, anyways our ages aside it's about time we start making our own decisions, I'm sure we've both trudged our way through enough shit to be considered grown men."

"Hehe I suppose so brother."

"And once you finally heal we're going to get out of this musty ass hospital and get you out in the world so that you can experience all the things you've missed, right Al?"

"Right brother." The two brothers gave eachother a fistbump in agreement and laid back down in their beds.

In a different part of the country Winry Rockbell sits in her home in resembool with a picture in her hands. The photo is of Edward Elric, in a military uniform, the flag of amestris is behind him and he looks angry, but it's one of the only photos she has of him, and it's something that keeps her going and allows her to move forward, even though ed hasn't called or let her know that he's ok ever since he left before the Promised Day, she wants to see him, she wants to know he's ok, she wants to hold him in her arms and never let go, she wants him to hold her in his arms, his real arms and stay with her forever, she hates this, this feeling of helplessness, all she's ever been able to do is sit around and wait, until they come to her asking for help, but in those moments where they are fighting their hardest all she can do is sit around and wait, and that makes he so angry, but as Maes Hughes once said, "You're the only person they will come to, and when they do come to you, you're there for them, and that's enough." Winry sighed deep and long, one day, they'll come back, one day, I just know it.

Across the world in the country of Xing, Ling Yao presents the philosopher's stone to his dying father. That day the emperor proclaims that Ling Yao shall be the next emperor of Xing, and will lead this country into a golden age. The next day the emperor, having succumbed to his age dies in his sleep, leaving the throne to Ling, and the country along with it. With this begins as foretold a new golden age for Xing, as efforts from both Grumman and Ling lead to Peace and prosperity between the nations, and even the beginning of construction of s railroad connecting the two countries. Slowly similar to Grumman, Ling begins to get rid of the policies and customs that have held off the potential that the country has for growth, and begins adopting western customs as well. Namely the first thing Ling did as emperor was to ban harems and concubines, restricting everyone including the emperor to one partner. Of course it was announced that the emperor had chosen a wife early into his rule, but their wedding wasn't supposed to happen for another year. Mei of the Chang family, because they were no longer called clans, instead going for the more progressive, "family" term, was selected to be one of the advisors and bodyguards of the throne, being marked as having "Extensive experience with different cultures, and combat ability rivialing that of the country's best soldiers." Bringing her into a high status, where she did still remember her roots as poor families daughter, and stayed humble because of that. Mei having such a status and now having grown much taller in only a month now is sought after by many of the Xingese people to become their wife. Although she's in high demand she remains unmarried, for reasons no one knows and, no one asks.

Back in Amestris the day after the Promised Day. At Fort Briggs, a funeral procession goes on for Captain Buccaneer and all those who lost their lives in central that day. The March goes all the way from northern command to central command. Once the men reach central command they stop and pay their respects at the memorial that is put up at central. The sky that day was dark and gloomy, and all those around had sadness cast across their face, and though she'd never admit it and would probably kill you if you even mentioned it, there are some that say that on that day, General Armstrong shed a single tear. The General put her men at work after that day in the repair efforts for the central city, and though there were many people surprised and confused to see the General and her men in central no one said anything.

Three days after Roy had regained his eyesight he sat in his hospital bed, he decided, considering he was already almost ready to leave anyways, that he would go and make a much needed visit to an old friend of his. Roy put on his uniform and got his long black coat, and made his way out of the hospital to his destination.

Edward at the same time was sitting in his bed reading a few books on construction and handiwork, after all he was going to have to learn how be useful again in today's society without his alchemy. As he turned to the next page, he hear a knock against the hospital room door.

"Come in?" The door began to open and he saw a bright yellow beard pop into his room. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

"Oh I just wanted to see my two sons, with their bodies back."

"Oh well then I suppose that's fine." Hohenheim walked of to Alphonse and patted his sleeping head.

"I'm sorry for all that I put you two through…"

"Yeah well, don't apologize to us, were not the ones who waited."

"Yeah you're right."

"Sorry I guess I shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine I understand, so what are you two going to do now?"


	2. Old Friend

**Chapter Two: Old Friend**

The cold morning air whipped Roy's face as he stepped out of the hospital. This was the only time he could get out as very soon his subordinates would be in his room and on his ass the entire day drilling him with questions about Ishval. His footsteps were heavy and brisk, as he didn't want to be out in the cold for very long, and considering it would be at least a mile a way he needed to get back before his subordinates could yell at him. He only took a small bag with him, it jingled around as he walked. He made his way along the empty morning sidewalks. The only sounds being that of construction around they city. Occasionally he would see someone else along the street, they too would notice him and they would exchange a friendly wave. Despite having led a coup, he still wasn't exactly used to layout of the city, but there was one place he knew all too well how to get to. The sun had just gotten to the point where it shines right in your eyes, causing him to squint for the majority of his walk.

"Damn this brightness, if only i could actually open my eyes, and tell where I was going." Roy could smell the food stands around central turning on their grills and fryers. In a way he could appreciate this, it was like watching a flower bloom after a rainstorm, it was the hope of humanity rising again. It was those protecting the ones below them, and in turn they protecting the ones they love. It had been dark for so long that the General had forgotten just what this felt like, it had been like this only once before, after Ishval. Yes, Ishval had been a tragedy for everyone 'But it's my job to fix it, that's what little I can do as a human.' After about an hour of walking he finally had reached his destination. The grave of Maes Hughes.

He walked up to his grave and sat down. "Hey Hughes, it's been a bit." He sighed long and deeply. "A lot has happened buddy, in the end you were right. If only I hadn't been so stupid, I could've realized sooner, we wouldn't have to talk across a barrier like this." Roy took the bag he was holding and sat it down next to the gravestone. "I guess you were right about that too, 1000 cens just like we agreed back then, the little brat surprised me." Roy looked down at his hands for a while. "Sorry I don't mean to bore you, it's just… so much has happened that I'm not really sure where to start." Roy took off his cap and fiddled with it for a minute. "I guess I could start with the fact that, it seems you've managed to help me climb the ladder even now. I'm a Major General, because of your discovery I've been able to make my way up here. Haha, even though I'm not the fuhrer, Grummans just keeping the seat warm for me until my current mission is complete. That being, my campaign to rebuild Ishval and give the land back to its people." Roy pulled out a few pictures, some were of Gracia and Elicia, some were drawn by Elicia. "I figured while I was here that I should give you these." Roy sat the photos down on the grave. "I-I…" Roy began to choke up. "Ahem, sorry I just think you'd be really proud, those Elric boys they…" He thought about what he planned to tell hughes. "Actually I think it would be better if those boys told you themselves, once they get out of that hospital." Roy thought it best for that news to be shared by the ones who earned it.

"Sir, I thought I'd find you here."

"Oh Major Hawkeye, I didn't think you'd come after me, see that Maes, no matter what I cant get away from her."

"Well when I awoke to find you not in bed I figured this was the only place you would be going to."

"Haha, I suppose I should've known you would find me, it's impossible to slip past your eye isn't it."

"You know better than anyone that I'm not going to let you slack off of your work sir."

"Well then I guess I'll be going, until next time old friend."

Edward sits in his hospital room, having just had a long conversation with his father, he goes back to reading the book he was on. Alphonse turns over, and looks at his brother reading his book, the bleached sunlight of early morning slowly turning into a light yellow color of the mid-day.

"Hey Edward?"

"Yeah bro?"

"We need to pay a visit to an Old friend. He still hasn't heard about us getting our bodies back."

"You know what Al? You're right, as soon as we get out of this hospital we'll go and let him know."

"I sure do hope that they let me out of here soon brother."

"You sure got messed up in there, I didn't think that it would be as bad as it turned out, but it'll be ok brother." As Edward said that a knock was heard on the door, and a nurse stepped into the room with some food and medicine for Alphonse.

"You know your case is quite odd Edward," The nurse spoke to Ed while giving Al his medication. "I've seen lots of people who are malnourished, but never someone who was just malnourished in one arm. It would make sense if you had a different build, but with the amount of muscle mass you have on the rest of your body, you should be fit all over."

"Hehe Yeah, if you want I could get into it, but it's quite a long story."

"Oh, no that's fine, far be it from me to pry into your business, my job is simply to help get you two boys back in working order." The nurse set Edwards food tray on the table for him. "Speaking of, you two boys should be ready to be discharged soon." Ed looked up at the nurse.

"Thanks, so were close to being ready to go then?"

"Yeah we just have to do a few more check-ups on you two and then administer a plan for working those muscles back into shape." The nurse began to walk towards the door. "Thank you two for all you've done, really, we wouldn't be here if it weren't for your bravery." Ed's eyes went wide at that comment.

"Oh… Thank you miss." The nurse left the two boys to themselves and walked down the hallway to her next patients. "I guess people know about what we did." Al looked over at Ed. "I'm not sure if that's good or bad."

"Oh I'm sure not that many people know about what we did brother, heh, you know I never would've thought that hospital food could taste this good."

"I'm glad your enjoying it." The two brothers ate their meals in peace, and ed even drank his milk.

While Ed and Alphonse stay stuck in the hospital, that same day Roy Mustang is discharged from the hospital. The now Flame General makes his way towards the train station. His day so far has been quite active with the mornings incident leading directly into a long four hours of studying, which were fortunately for the General, cut short by the announcement that he was good to go. After hearing that he was free, Roy grabbed his subordinates and made off for central station.

"I've been itching to get out of here and into the eastern region, I can't get this feeling out of my system."

"You Roy? Wanting to work? This is one for the books."

"Oh be quiet Captain Havoc, just because I don't enjoy pushing pencils doesn't mean I don't take my work very seriously, I plan on changing this country, and I can't do that just wasting away in a hospital bed, besides, I'm sure that you also missed working."

"Yeah missed, that's what I did." This got a laugh out of First Lieutenant Fuery, which caused the whole group to burst into laughter.

"I told you I had no intention of leaving you behind Havoc, there's no way I could go without your witty banter."

"Hmph, I suppose so, I guess that's just who I am, irresistibly desirable."

"Does that mean you've finally got a girlfriend Jean?" Captain Breda piped up. Havoc's proud smile quickly faded into a deep frown.

"no…"

"Oh man if the absolute object of desire can't catch a woman then what hope is there for the rest of us?" Captain Falman added, and with this everyone except Havoc began to laugh again.

"Hey you guys shut up! I plan to catch a large chested beauty with this new facial hair of mine."

"You mean the bush you've got laying on your chin?" Hawkeye said with a condescending tone.

"Man I'm just getting hammered on today, jeez guys."

"Aw don't worry about it Jean, we're just glad to have you back." Fuery added, the group really didn't know what was going to happen to their friend for a while, so upon the news that he was going to be able to come back, the group had regained its cheery demeanor.

"Well we can't waste any time, considering we're on our way to your big speech general. We'd better get back to studying."

"Yeah, i suppose so, I'm putting a lot on this opening speech, so I have to make sure it goes well."

"You know that many of the Ishvalan people are not going to accept you, and many will outright reject you. If it wasn't bad enough that you're an Amestrian General, but to make matters worse you are also responsible for the direct massacre of many Ishvalan people."

"I know, that's why I have to do all that I can to make this right, I'm still haunted by my memories of that battlefield, so I guess in a way I'm doing this for myself as well." Riza looked at the general, no wonder she puts so much trust in him, when he says stuff like that it's hard to not trust a man like him.

The next morning Al was awoken by a doctor and a nurse who had come in to give him his physical. After a quick set of questions and a physical examination the doctors also woke up Edward to determine his well-being. Once the two brothers had finished their physicals the staff walked out of the room to make sense of the results.

"Do you think they'll let us out soon Ed?"

"Well you do look noticeably better than after the promised day."

"Brother, I'm so excited to get out of here I can barely contain it."

"Keep that excitement bro, you'll need it for all the things were going to do once we're out."

"Thanks brother." After about ten minutes the doctor came back with two slips of paper.

"Well after your physical examinations I've deemed the both of you healthy enough to be discharged from the hospital."

"Really!" The two brothers exclaimed at the same time.

"But" Their faces turned back into despair. "You two need to examine a strict dietary and exercise program, and you both will have to stay in central for at least another month so that we can keep a close eye on your health and make sure nothing goes awry." The brothers faces dropped down. They understood why but it didn't make it any better that they had to stay cooped up in central. "Ed your arm's muscle atrophy is not as bad as Al's so you can go along with whatever exercise you normally do just add a little more stress on that right arm so it can build up what it needs. For you Al, it's a little more complicated, your muscles have atrophied quite severely, therefore we've got an exercise regimen that will allow your muscles to acclimate, while gradually increasing the intensity so that the muscles have a chance to build up. Both of you need to eat a high protein diet, and you need to make sure you get your calcium so drink lots of milk." That last line got a large groan from Edward which caused Al to burst out into laughter.

"Brother you never change do you?"  
"Whatever, I'll only drink it because I have to, but that doesn't mean I'll like it!" The doctor walked up to Edward.

"Another thing you can do is make sure you use your right arm for most tasks like construction or…" The doctor leaned in and whispered something into Ed's ear which caused him to blush and jerk back. Ed regained his composure and agreed with the doctor's recommendation. With that the doctor left the room and the nurse came in to help the two brothers get out, and to give Al his cane. The two brothers made their way out of the hospital and into the streets of central.

The Elric Brothers made their way to the graveyard, walking along the calm city streets, the occasional car driving by, leaving the smell of gasoline in their nostrils, Edward, having experienced this smell many times paid no mind to it but when he looked over he saw Al's face covered in a mixture of repulsion and glee.

"You alright Al?"

"Yeah sorry I'm just not used to experiencing that smell having forgotten what it's like, learning that again is kind of a shock, but I think it's going to be like that for many things, at least for a while."

"I'm sorry about that Alphonse."

"No no, I actually quite enjoy that, this whole part of having my body back is something I was looking forward to."

"Oh well then that's good thing I suppose." The brothers continued their walk to the graveyard and were about halfway there at this point. As they walked together, Edward unconsciously shortened his stride to match Al's so that he wouldn't get ahead. Such is the nature of these brothers, with bond between each other stronger than blood, so much so that they stick together without even trying.

Finally at the entrance to the graveyard the two brothers were stopped by a brick wall standing in front of them.

"Ah The Elric Brothers, it's so good to see you two!"

"Hello Colonel Armstrong, what are you doing here?"

"Well Brosh, Ross and I were visiting Mr Hughes, before these two head off."

Ah we're here to do the same, wait what do you mean head off, and why didn't you call Brosh by his rank?"

"Well you see Ed," Ross interjected, "That's because he doesn't have a rank anymore."

"So you quit the military then?"

"Yeah I'm planning to go live with Maria in Xing, as an ambassador and advisor to the emperor."

"Wait you two are getting MARRIED?!" Al exclaimed.

"No no, not yet at least, for now we're just dating but we are going to be living together."

"So that's where you two are headed off to then, well safe travels you lovebirds."

"Thanks boys, you too" They both responded.

With that the two boys continued on into the graveyard. They arrived at Maes grave and they sat down.

"Well Maes, we did it, we finally got our bodies back." Ed started.

"Even though you weren't here to see it, I'm sure you're proud of us up there."

"Thank you for helping and guiding us on our journey here."

"You did so much for us I don't think we can ever repay you, but I hope seeing us finally make it will do something for you." Ed Looked down at the gravestone and noticed the bag, he picked it up and noticed the jingling.

"Ah, so that's what Mustang meant when he said old friend, it seems."

"What do you mean what Mustang meant brother?"

"Oh nothing brother, don't worry about it."

"If you say so brother." The two brothers just sat there for a while in silence, until finally Al spoke up. "Brother it's cold out here and I'm hungry, we should head somewhere."  
"Oh yeah if we're going to be stuck here for a month we'd better figure out somewhere to stay."

"Why don't you two come stay with us for a while if your having trouble finding somewhere to stay." The two brother jumped at the strangers statement. They turned around to see Mrs. Hughes behind them with little Elicia next to her. The brothers stood up, to which Elicia commented that Ed was the big brother and Al was the little brother.

"See that Al? I'm no longer a pipsqueak."

"Haha I guess if Elicia thinks so then it must be true." Ed turned to Gracia.

"We couldn't burden you like that."

"Oh stop it with that nonsense, we're way past that point, and you aren't a burden anyways, so just accept our invitation."

"Sorry, I guess you're right, thank you for allowing us to do this."

"Oh there's no need to thank me, we love having you boys over and being able to help you guys recover is our pleasure." With that the four began to walk towards the Hughes residence.


	3. Strides

Chapter Three: Strides

The loud screech as the train came to a halt at the Eastern Command Station awoke Mustang from his nap. The hustle and bustle of East City reminded Mustang of the older days, when he used to work there, it seemed almost as if this was where he belonged, but then again the only place he really knew that he belonged was in the highest seat of power, and he couldn't get there sitting around in east city, but it still felt nice to be back to where he started. Riza and the rest of his subordinates stood up and Roy followed suit, as they stepped off the train Havoc, Breda, and Roy began to stretch out their backs.

"Ugh, no matter how many times I've ridden on it, that train is a quite literal pain in the ass." Breda complained.

"Yeah I sure do hope you improve the trains once you become fuhrer." Falman added.

"Sure that'll be the first thing I do." Roy kidded. The group got their luggage, which was quite a bit considering they were going to be in the east for a while for the Ishvalan repair campaign. They were somehow going to have to convince these people who had already been betrayed by their government, to again trust them, and rejoin society. But Roy hoped that his secret weapon was going to help with that part of the campaign. They had a few hours to burn before their train to Resembool, the closest railroad connected city to Ishval, they would have to get the rest of the way there by carriage but, if all went well soon there would be a railroad connecting Ishval to the East city as well. Luckily there was an abundance of ways to kill time in the East city, unfortunately Roy took no part in it because the Major made him study up on Ishval more.

Edward and Alphonse finally arrived at the Hughes house. As they stepped into the tidy house, Ed was reminded of all the times he'd been there before, it was hard, but after that he was able to look at it without becoming saddened. Gracia showed them into the guest bedroom where they would end up staying for the next month. The two would've unpacked, except they had next to nothing, other than Edward's pocket watch, and the clothes that the hospital had provided for them.

"Seems like we're going to have to get some new clothes brother."

"Yeah Al, I don't think we can survive for a month with just this."

"So we agree that we need new clothes, but with what money?"  
"Don't worry Al, back when I went on the run, I moved all of the funds I had at the time to a private savings account that I'd been using to save up money over the four years that I was a state alchemist. With w at's in there we should be covered financially for a while."

"Wow brother, I guess they don't call you a prodigy for nothing."

"Oh stop, that whole genius talk is only because I saw the truth." Ed and Al told Gracia that they were going out, and took off for the market.

The whistle for the train to Resembool went off and so the Mustang crew grabbed their belongings and headed onto the train, and as it took off the image of East City quickly faded into the distance.

"The train ride to Resembool is a lot faster than the one to East City, and leaves you with a much less sore ass." Roy explained, he was headed to Resembool for the second time in forever. He hadn't returned ever since he met Edward here, it wasn't that he didn't want to come back, it's just he never really ever had a reason to return, considering how busy he is anyways, it's not like he could just come back for the fun of it either. Although, in this very rural place there wasn't that much to do in the first place, in a way, it surprised him how a boy as rowdy, and not to mention annoying as Ed was able to live in such a quiet place as this for what was the majority of his life. Not that it mattered all that much, it was those boys who chose to come back here, maybe for winry maybe for their childhood friend, or maybe for another reason. But it would be rude anyway to put down the home of a friend of his. It was a nice place in general anyways, and it would be the last bit of green they would see for a while before they walked into the battlefield that was Ishval. Although this time it was a much different kind of battle they were going to be fighting, and as he planned, they were going to need the help of someone much better suited to a place like this. If Mustang had heard right he should've been waiting here at the train station.

"Ah Roy Mustang. It seems we're ahead of schedule then."

Ed and Al arrived at the bank after walking for only a little bit, thanks to Mrs. Hughes conveniently located house. The sun was high in the sky, and the bank was fairly busy. Many people were grabbing what money and goods they could and were getting out of the country, others were trying to deposit money for their children or family members. It seems that the nationwide death scare had gotten to everybody in some way. It was interesting to see all the different ways people were coping with their fear. Ed got in line and held Al close to him as to make sure that they didn't get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the bank. Finally after a good ten minutes they arrived at the clerk's counter.

"I'd like to make a withdrawal."

"Ok, and what name is the account under?"

"Elric."

"Elric lets see… wait, you wouldn't happen to mean Edward Elric the fullmetal alchemist would you?"

"Heh, yeah that's me." Soon after the name was uttered peoples heads were turned in the direction of their counter. A crowd soon began to gather, with people gathering to thank them, or to ask for their autographs. "Oh no I'm not that important really, I'm just trying to get a withdrawal people." But the crowd didn't stop, and about a half an hour later Ed was finally able to get back to what he was doing. "So about that withdrawal."

"Ah yes do you have verifiable identification, sorry if it's a hassle, but we're required to see identification for withdrawals of this size."

"Don't worry I understand, is this pocket watch good enough?"

"Ah, yes that will do perfectly." The clerk handed Edward a package, which Ed looked inside of, then said a thank you to the clerk and they both left.

"You know brother, if you're planning to quit the state alchemist program, then shouldn't you find a better way to identify yourself other than the pocket watch. Soon enough people are going to stop allowing you to use that."

"Yeah, I planned to stop at the central office and get a full ID sometime today, but for now let's get some clothes."

"Ah there he is, just the man I was looking for." Roy said as he noticed who was speaking to him.

"Yes and you were just the man I was looking for Colonel Miles." The two gave each other a hearty handshake and set off away from the train station.

"So this is who you had up your sleeve General." Breda commented, noticeably surprised at the fact that a native northerner would be agreeing to spend a respectable amount of time, not only in the east, but in the hottest part of the east.

"And no Briggs issue uniform?" Falman asked, taking note of the absence of fur around the collar of the coat, and the much brighter hue.

"Yeah well, it's not very bright to be wearing a coat designed to keep heat in, whilst working my ass off in the desert sun."

"Well then, it should be relieving to know that we're here to start off the repair campaign."

"Thank christ, I was told you would be here sometime this week, but I didn't think that after hearing the extent of you and your subordinates injuries, well mainly you and the major's, I figured that you wouldn't be out here for another couple of days."

"Is that a problem? Have the Ishvalans not been gathered yet, because we can wait if need be."

"No, actually your early arrival is a blessing, we've had the people gathered, the problem is keeping them here, it's only been two days since they were brought here, and they're all getting restless."

"Well then, my arrival seems to be a win-win for us all. Seems normal that my appearance should bring along with it good tidings for everyone."

"Sir, it's more akin to barely fixing a problem you made yourself, which you haven't really fixed yet even." Hawkeye interjected, with a disappointed look on her face.

"Jeez, you're always hard on me Major."

"Sir if I may, it's unbecoming to complain about the way you told me to treat you."

"Eh, you've got a point. Right well Colonel where's our transport?"

"Well as you know the only way to get to Ishval from here is to use a carriage, which is waiting a little further into the village, ready to set off."

"Right, then there's no point in wasting any time here, let's move."

Winry sat at her dining room table, the apple pie she had baked that day sitting on the table, uneaten. Pinako stood in the dining room doorway, just watching, silently. Winry's head was down in her arm, which held the picture of Ed that she had been keeping close to her. 'What am I gonna do with this girl?' Pinako thought to herself. Winry had been like this ever since the promised day, she would wake up, bake an apple pie, sit there for a while, and she wouldn't even touch it, until it got cold, and Pinako would give it to the farmers, to use in the pig troughs. Winry had gone for much longer periods of time without seeing the brothers, or hearing from them, but this time it was different. They had left that time to go stop the end of the world, and just like when her parents left, when Mr. Hughes left, and when the brothers went off to fight Scar, all she saw was Ed's back slowly disappearing into the distance. She had to go to the market today to get more apples but she didn't want to leave the house in case they came back while she was gone. Winry stood up and took a deep breath, she had to keep moving, no matter what had happened to Ed she knew that he would want her to keep on moving forward. Winry put on her blue skirt and her jacket. She looked at herself in the mirror, the skirt she had worn for so long no longer reached her knees, and her jacket rode up much farther than it used to. She would have to get some new clothes soon. She grabbed her basket and her purse, and set out to the market. It wasn't that much of a walk, what with how small the village was, so after a brisk fifteen minute stroll she arrived at the marketplace and began looking at apples.

"Did you hear? Apparently that flame alchemist came through here." Winry stopped when she heard that. 'That's Colonel Mustang their talking about, isn't it? Wait, he was a friend of Edward wasn't he? Maybe he knows something about how Edward is doing.' Winry ran up to the woman who had mentioned Mustang.

"Hey you said you heard that the Flame Alchemist came through here right? Do you remember where the person who said that saw him?"

"Uh… I think they said that they saw him by the train station earlier."

"Thanks Ma'am." Winry ran to the train station, she knew that the Colonel had to know something. She arrived at the train station but didn't see anyone around. Winry walked up to the ticket booth. "Hey do you know if a man wearing a military uniform with short black hair came through here? He might've had a blond woman with him as well."

"Lemme think… oh yeah, I know who you're talking about."

"Really?!"

"Yeah he came through with a group of five others, all dressed in uniform, they said they we're heading to Ishval. Don't know what business anybody would've had going to Ishval, but they left about an hour ago."

"Dammit!"

"Sorry, miss…"

"No, it's fine, not like it's your fault." Winry's head dropped down. 'That was the one chance I had to learn about what was going on with Edward, and I let it slip right through my fingers.' Winry headed back to the market and finished shopping for her apples and headed home.

"Look at this Ed!" Edward looked over to see what AL had. In his hands was a brown vest and a white shirt. "What do you think of it brother?"

"I think that would look great on you."

"Really? I'm gonna go try it on then." Al went back to the changing rooms, and so Ed kept looking at what he was going to get. He had never been a fan of anything too formal, and so he had mostly picked up casual wear. He saw this white jacket, and upon trying it on found if felt really nice, so he had picked it up as well. The only time he ever chose style over comfort was if it looked cool, like his red coat and his black outfit that, sadly, was for one thing ruined, and even if it wasn't he was positive something like that wouldn't fit him anymore. Al emerged from the changing room, with his normal clothes he had gotten from the hospital on. "Well brother lets get these clothes."

"So you found something that you like then?"

"Yeah I think that this outfit suits me really well."

"Well that's good, let's go give these to the clerk then." The brothers brought their clothes up to the front desk, and gave them to the clerk, who rang them up. They grabbed their clothes and left the shop, back out into the afternoon air. The nice glare of sunlight hitting them simultaneously, causing both of them to raise their hands up to cover their eyes. The city had gotten noticeably more busy since they had entered the shop three hours ago. Edward had picked out his clothes in less than fifteen minutes, but whether it was because he had just gotten his body back, or just because that was the way that Alphonse was, shopping with his brother was shopping with Winry. But he was ok with that, at this point Al had earned it, and he was ok with spoiling his brother. "Hey Al I was thinking about something."

"What's that brother?"

"Well I don't think we should tell Winry about the way we are now."

"But brother-!"

"I know, she's worried about us, but I think if we told her about the way that you are right now, she'd only get more worried about us."

"Yeah, you're right brother, it just worries me, I'm not sure if she's ok and all."

"Don't worry brother, I'm sure Winry trusts that we're ok, so we have to trust in her that she's ok, and then we'll get our bodies nice and strong, so that we can see her smiling face when she sees us."

"Yeah Ed, lets get stronger." The two brothers exchanged a fist bump as they walked along. "So are we going to get your ID now?"

"Yeah that's at the state office, which should be a few blocks ahead." The brothers continued their walk along, the sky gradually getting more and more orange. They arrived at the state office as the clock struck seven o'clock. "Huh seems we made it with time to spare."

"Were you planning on getting here late?"

"Not really, it's just that with all my experiences here, they usually are closed earlier than this, but it seems this time we actually have an hour before they close, well I guess it's not that important." They entered the building, which had a strangely white glow to it. Despite being a pretty high traffic area, the building was fairly empty today. They took a number and sat down. "Normally I would say that you should get an ID yourself, but the way your hair is, no one would recognize you."

"I guess you're right, I want to get my hair cut, but I'm not sure who to go to."  
"For now we'll look for someone, I mean I've always kept My hair long, so haircuts aren't really something I know about. Wait actually, while you hair is long like this I've got an idea brother, would you mind turning around for a minute?" Al turned his head to show Ed the back of it.

"What are you thinking about doing Ed?" Though it didn't matter because Edward was done soon after.

"There, you look great now, that can serve as a substitute until you get your original hair back."

"What did you do with it?" Al walked over to the window and looked at his reflection. Once he saw what Ed had done he burst out laughing. "Oh my goodness brother!"

"What? Do you not like it?"  
"No no, I was just thinking that I look like you now." Ed had taken his brothers hair and put it in an elegant braid like his. "Thank you brother, this will do until I get a haircut." They both sat back down and waited until their number was called, which once it was, involved a simple process of answering a series of questions, and getting his picture taken. The whole thing took about an hour most of which was simply sitting around and waiting, which they spent chatting. The clerk told them they'd receive a physical copy of the card in about a week, but for now they could use a paper replacement. The office sent the new info to the other four offices around Amestris, which then began slowly getting that info out to other government properties. The Elrics walked back out into the city and were hit with a blast of cold air. The sky was now a deep orange and pink, and the streets were now deeply shadowed. The air was rich with notes of food stands, drifting upon the cold night air that they walked through. It was quiet, except for the occasional passing car, which would then disappear into the distance, leaving only the chirping of birds and bugs. "Jeez we ended up being out for longer than we thought brother."

"Yeah, I hope Mrs. Gracia isn't mad at us." They began their short walk home which only took around a half an hour. Although the walk was short they weren't home before the sun dipped beneath the horizon leaving the sky black. The two brothers walked up the the apartment and Ed knocked on the door. They stood there waiting to be griped at about how late they were out. Instead they were met with a smiling Mrs. Hughes and the smell of warm food.

"Did you two find what you were looking for?"

"Yeah, sorry we ended up staying out so late."  
"Oh that's fine, you two were looking for important stuff. Well, I made quiche."

The two brothers looked at each other and smiled, Mrs. Gracia's quiche was like no other.


	4. Changes

Major Miles and the General's group had gotten on the cart an hour ago, the only solace from the insane heat of the eastern desert being the covering on the cart, and unfortunately that too was coming off of the cart. Ishval was the same as it had been all those years ago, a harsh place. It surprised the General too, they had left from such a green and grassy place, and he hadn't even noticed it change into the sandy abyss that they were in now. It seemed that the change was so gradual that by the time the changes in setting had sunk in they were already sweating their asses off. They had been on the train for about an hour, with the good three quarters of that time still inside Resembool city limits. The cart had only just entered the desert, and they were already dying, which spoke volumes for the intensity of life the Ishvalan people lived in. It amazed Mustang how a people whose home had been ravaged by a war, designed to eradicate their race, could come back from that and manage to still live in an already barren land, now salted by blood and gunpowder. It certainly was a land that fit their people, if anyone could live there it would be them. If Mustang's efforts were successful then the way of life for these people would be a hell of a lot easier, and that in it of itself, was going to be hard. The desert of Ishval had not only crafted a people with strong bodies, but also with a strong pride. He being a member of the military, and a huge piece of the war of extermination, gaining the trust of these people was going to as hard as living in this desert was.

Edward woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling, the morning sun lightly casting the patterned shadow of Mrs. Gracia's embroidered curtains across the floor of the guest bedroom. The smell of the breakfast being cooked in the other room wafting in through the crack in the door. Edward lifted up his right arm as he usually was prone to doing and was taken by surprise for a minute when he saw a peach color instead of the normal silver he was used to. He quickly remembered that this was normal and calmed down. Ed sat up in his bed and looked over at Alphonse who was still sleeping, his long hair let down and wrapping around his shoulders. Ed got up out of bed and walked over to Al's bed. He looked at his brother and smiled, they had finally gotten back the normal lives they wanted. Ed woke up al to which he got a request of five more minutes from Al, who then quickly re-nigged his five minutes once he was informed of the presence of Mrs. Gracia's breakfast.

"If you want breakfast then we've got to work out first."

"Aww man, do we have to?"

"If you want to get strong then you have to."

"Fine… what are we going to do?"

"Well since we need to start small with you I think a morning jog would be good."

"I guess a jog doesn't sound that bad." The two brothers put on tank tops and shorts, and Ed also added a headband. "Hehe brother I've never seen you wear a headband before."

"Well I thought it might look good on me so I'm trying it for today." They walked out of their room and into the entryway where Mrs. Gracia saw them.

"Oh my, you two sure look ready to go, what are you doing?"

"We're going on a jog, Al's body is currently under reconstruction, so we need to make sure that he gets rebuilt with the right materials."

"Ok well be back soon you two."

"We will, thanks." They left the apartment and began their jog on the streets of central, which weren't necessarily full with people, but they weren't empty either. As they jogged Ed noticed something about the people around them, which Al was oblivious to apparently.

"Hey bro have you noticed yet?"

"Noticed what Ed?"

"The people around you, you're being looked at by almost everyone we pass."

"Wait WHAT! You mean people have been giving me weird looks this whole time?"  
"No no that's not what I meant, I mean they're giving you good looks, it seems you're quite the lady killer Al."  
"Oh don't tease me like that brother."

"I'm not, you've been turning heads ever since we started our jog." They continued on their jog, which was fairly quick, only thirty minutes out, and a forty minute walk back. As the apartment came back into sight Al breathed a sigh of relief, after not exercising for four years, the feeling of being out of breath had escaped him. Not that it was a bad thing, he quite enjoyed this feeling of exhaustion. As they approached the door Al almost collapsed to the ground, his legs buckling under him. He would have hit the ground if it hadn't been for Ed's quick reflexes allowing him to catch Al. "Woah there Al, seems like you overexerted yourself."

"Yeah, I guess I didn't realize how exhausted my body was."

"You've got to be more careful with this body of yours, alright Al?"

"Sorry brother I'll be more careful in the future." They walked into the building and knocked at the front door. Elicia answered the door, and saw the brothers, to which se commented on how smelley they were.

"Haha, I guess you two should get washed up, breakfast will be ready by then."

The type of weather that you get in Xing is like that of amestris, the only difference is it's usually about fifty percent hotter, since the all too often eastern winds that occur, blow large amounts of hot and humid air into the country. It's only really noticeable if you live in the western part of the country, as winds like that aren't really likely to affect something as far east as something like the port town of Xian-Peng. But in the capital city of Xing, which resides nearly in the desert that separates it from Amestris, the heat becomes another daily part of existence, so despite how hot it was that day, it made little difference to the people of Xing.

"Man, it feels good to be back in my home country, but getting used to the heat is going to be a problem."

"Emperor do you require anything?" Lan Fan said from the shadows of the throne room.  
"No Lan Fan, I'm good thank you, and didn't I tell you to stop calling me emperor?"

"Sorry my lord."

"Don't call me that either." Ling knew that she wouldn't break out of that habit anytime soon, but if he wanted to get closer to her, he was going to have to take himself off the pedestal that she had him put upon. He knew exactly when he began to think like this, it wasn't like he hadn't loved Lan Fan up to that point, but he really realized how much he loved her, when he was sitting in the abandoned shack, unable to do anything to help her, even after she had done so much for him. Ever since then he wanted to get closer to her, he didn't really deserve her love but, men, being the creatures they are, have quite a lot of greed, and maybe it was what his demon friend had rubbed off upon him, but he wanted her love. And that meant getting her to not put so much distance between herself and him. He had been dealing with visitors all day up till now and he'd finally gotten a break in the visitors. Ling planned to use his break to get a little closer to Lan Fan.

"Lan Fan?"

"Yes?"

"My joints are aching from having been sitting in this damn throne all day, I need some exercise."

"How may I help with that sir."

"I think some sparring should do some good."

"Against me sir?"

"Well who do you think?"  
"Yes, sorry sir."

"Stop apologizing, and don't call me sir, just call me Ling."

"Yes Ling… Sir."

"Ugh I guess that's some progress." Ling walked to the Emperor's quarters and changed into a simple pair of pants, and in lieu of a shirt, he simply wrapped some fabric around his chest. He walked out into the courtyard which was empty except for a couple of guards which he told to promptly leave so that he could focus on fighting Lan Fan. He had a wooden staff in his hands, which he held still, and simply stood and listened. Part of his training with Lan Fan was trying to predict her first strike, which he had gotten better at recently, using clever tactics, which was part of the reason he did this, so he could better serve his people as not only a leader but as a tactician. So he stood there, waiting trying to figure out from where she would strike. Most of the time it was the first strike which decided these, with the battle being over in seconds. He heard a rustle to his left and quickly turned his head to try and block, but soon realised his mistake when he saw no one coming from over there. He knew that he wouldn't be able to turn his whole body quickly enough to block her attack so he had to somehow block her attack without turning around. He grabbed his staff and made a best estimate as to where she was, and knew he had managed to guess right, once he felt the weight of her against his staff. That weight only lasted for a second though, because she lifted off his staff weightlessly before he could really even feel her there. This although, had given him enough time to turn around and face her. It was times like this, when a real battle was underway, that got his blood pumping. Lan Fan stood there silent, and he too said nothing, they simply stared at each other in the eyes, waiting for the other to make a move. The tension was palpable, the arena silent, the only thing the two were focusing on was each other. While there eyes locked, Ling gave a very small chuckle, he didn't know why but he found it funny, maybe it was because he wasn't supposed to laugh but for whatever reason, in that moment he had laughed. The battle was over, Ling just as well as Lan Fan knew that the second he let out that chuckle, that he was going to lose. Lan Fan pounced at him live a viper striking their prey, and despite Ling's feeble attempt to raise his staff, it was no use. She was on top of him pinning him to the ground, with her wooden dagger to his neck.

"You lost again Ling-sir."

"It would seem so… heh." The two didn't say anything, and Ling just lay there with Lan Fan on top of him, until they both realized what they looked like and began to blush.

"Well well well, what do we have here? The emperor and his dog getting it on?"

"Hold on a minute Mei, it's not what it loo-"

"YOU DARE DISRESPECT YOUR EMPEROR!?"  
"Hold on Lan Fan she didn't mean anything by it." Sadly his moment with Lan Fan had been interrupted, but at least he had gotten closer to her in some light.

Ed and Al sat in the guest bedroom of Mrs. Gracia's house, Ed was reading a cookbook, and Al had been staring out the window for a while, thinking to himself. Ed noticed that Al hadn't said anything for a while and decided to bring up something that he had been thinking about.

"Hey Al, I've noticed that you've been pushing yourself pretty hard lately…"

"Huh, oh I haven't been pushing myself that hard."

"Al… don't lie to me, I've seen you pushing yourself to the point of you legs buckling, and don't think I forgot what happened after our jog."

"Well… I…"

"Al you need to be more careful, I don't want to see you getting hurt."

"I-I…"

"And I've noticed how much you've been coughing lately, Al you need to stop pushing yourself so hard."

"YOUR ONE TO TALK BROTHER!" Ed's eyes went wide with shock. "I'VE HAD TO SIT AND WATCH YOU SPIT BLOOD FOR ME FOR FOUR YEARS JUST TO GET MY BODY BACK!" Ed remained silent, he didn't know what to say. "I'm not going to have gotten my body back because of you, and not put in just as much effort as you did for me." Ed stood up, from his chair and began to walk towards Al. "I couldn't stand watching you go through all that for me for so long, and you don't start to think you're going to change my mind on this." Ed bent down and wrapped his arms around Al. "What is this brother? Aren't you going to be mad at me or something?"

"Heh, it seems we're just like each other, when we've got something our minds are set upon there's no changing our paths. So it seems that if you're following in my footsteps, the only reasonable thing to do would be to follow in your footsteps, and be there to catch you when your legs fall out." Al returned Ed's hug and they both stood there for a minute. "What are we gonna do with you. I hope the only thing you got from me is this moment, because I don't think there's enough room in the whole universe for two of me."

"Haha, don't worry brother, there's not a chance that I'd be like you."

Sweat dripping, heavy breathing, and all around miserable the Ishval rescue squad had just gotten within sight of the province of Ishval, with barely any strength left in them, though they had been here before, the heat still took them down, as it had been almost ten years since they had been there. As they approached they saw the silhouette of a man standing at the edge of town, an Ishvalan, who they couldn't recognize due to the hot air on the desert floor distorting their vision of the desert ahead. As they began to get closer they began to notice that there were tattoos on his arm, which caused Mustang to lift his gloved hand, despite the fact that he didn't even have his spark glove on. Riza noticed this, grabbed his hand and lowered it back into his lap.

"He may be just another Ishvalan, there may be more than one Ishvalan with tattoos." Riza kept her hand on the General's hand in his lap, which caused him to sweat more as if he wasn't already sweating. As they approached the town, the sun began to block out mostly everything, and the man from earlier had went away. The group got out of the cart and began to stretch their muscles.

"Man it seems like all we do is go from one pain in the ass to the next." As mustang said that, the tattooed Ishvalan came back into sight, and this time everyone could see who it was. The appearance of the cross shaped scar on his head let everyone know who was standing in front of them. Which caused everyone to spring into action, Mustang tightened his still completely normal glove, Riza reached to the pistol she had strapped to her back, Breda and Havoc both put their hands on their side holsters, and Falman and Fuery both stepped back a bit. "Well well, it's seems like the next pain in the ass for today has come to us. Scar, how nice to see you again, or should I say how bothersome, I was hoping that I was going to only have one battle to fight today."  
"Major General Roy Mustang, how nice to see you as well. Now as much as I'd like to fight you, I'm not that kind of person anymore." Miles, seeing that this situation wasn't going to de-escalate without intervention. The Major jumped between the two sides and put his arms out.  
"Now hold on Mustang, he's on our side now."

"Why's this damn murderer on our side now, did you forget he's killed over ten state alchemists?"

"Yes, but now he wants to help his people in a better way, we wouldn't have been able to stop the promised day without his help, and he's accepted that what he did was wrong." Mustang dropped his hand, and Riza, Havoc, and Breda followed suit.

"I don't like it, why is a man like him on our side, after all that he did to go against people like me."

"Don't forget General, it was you and your state alchemists who caused the problem that you're so gung ho to fix."

"Whatever, let's get this show on the road, I've got a speech to prepare for." As Mustang walked past Scar he said something so that only the Ishvalan could hear it. "Don't Think this means I trust you, you take one step out of line and I will end you quicker than you can say 'Flame Alchemist.'"

"I should say the same to you, but I'm sure you've already got people to keep you in check, and I'm not that kind of person anymore." The General walked past him, if this was the first thing that happened while he was here, this was not going to be easy.

The next day the brothers woke up and did their daily routine, go jog, eat breakfast, go around town for a bit, and come home and relax for a bit, though neither of them really relaxed during that time. Ed was usually lifting with his right arm, and Al was doing push ups, jumping jacks, and other stationary exercises.

"Ed when do you think that we can get my hair cut?"

"Well as soon as we can find a good barber." Ed really did want to see his brothers hair get cut, but seeing it sooner rather than later wasn't worth a badly done job. Mrs. Gracia was in the dining room knitting a scarf for Elicia, when she overheard the brothers talking. She got up from her chair and set down the scarf. She lightly walked over to the boys room.

"I see what you mean, after all this time I don't want to have my hair ruined."

"I could help you guys with that." Both of the brothers jumped out of their seats, they whipped their heads around to the door and relaxed once they saw who it was that had spoken to them.

"Oh Mrs. Gracia, wait you could cut Al's hair?"

"Oh yes, I've been cutting Elicia's hair for a while, and before that I also cut Maes hair, in fact that's how we met, I used to work as a stylist."  
"Really! You would do that for me Mrs. Gracia?"

"Well yes of course, after all you guys have done for us, it's the least I can do."

"It seems like we found your barber Al."

"I guess so."


	5. The People Around Us

General Mustang sat in the room that had been provided for him, reciting the words he had prepared to give to the Ishvalan people. He didn't have much room for failure, not that it mattered. He knew that whether or not the speech he gave was good, the Ishvalan people were not going to accept them straight off. So all he could do was give the best speech he could deliver and trust that Miles and Scar were going to be able to get the favor of the people. Mustang took a deep breath, and walked out onto the small wooden stage that had been set up for him. As he walked out into the light, his eyes took a second to adjust. If he was still blind he would've only believed that a small crowd had gathered, simply due to how they sounded, but there were many more standing there than were heard. A huge crowd of nearly three thousand, all almost dead silent as he walked out onto the stage. Their faces all glaring at him as he approached the podium. He had over three thousand judgemental eyes staring back at him.

Mustang cleared his throat, all he had to do was deliver his opening speech, and then he had to rely on his friends.

"Hello people of Ishval,"

"FUCK YOU!" A man in the crowd yelled at the stage, which Mustang tried to ignore.

"Today, me and a few of my comrades have come, to help in my goal to brighten Amestris future.

"WHAT BY BURNING IT DOWN MURDERER?!" Another man yelled out at him. This was going exactly as Mustang had forseen it, at least a riot hadn't broken out.

"No, we have come here to help rebuild Ishval, to restore it to something even greater than its former glory, and to do so we need your help."

"And why should we help a murderer like you!?"

"Because, this isn't just for me, I'm trying to help you Ishvalans by rebuilding your homes, and because… despite how it may feel, that war hurt both side, we Amestrians didn't want to kill you, but we were ordered to. It may seem selfish, and this probably doesn't even come close to repaying it, but I need to atone for my own sins that I've committed on this sand."

His last statement hit hard, it caused half of that crowd to loosen up, and start to move onto his side of the fight. The other half of the crowd were angered by that statement. It seemed like a riot was actually about to break out. Scar stepped up on the stage.

"Ishvalans! Do you not see what you're doing!? We need to come together as a people so that we may change our future for the better! I was once a mad killer, I murdered state alchemists without remorse. I even went after the fifteen year old state alchemist who had nothing to do with the Ishvalan war. I planned to kill him in cold blood right in front of his brother, without a second thought. And now you see me here today! A changed man! Do you not think that If even I can change for the better, that General Mustang can change for the better?! I do not say that you have to forgive what he has done, but we should trust him to help us heal our broken province!" The crowd stopped what they were doing and looked at Scar, what he was saying was true, and even if they didn't want to, they really had to trust the General who wanted them to become better. The crowd quieted down and began to listen to what the foreigners had to say. Mustang outlined to them the plan, slowly waning the rural areas into a more moreder style, while adhering to the religious policies, having Ishvalans got to other Ishvalan slums to bring people to the area, while the rest did manual work building houses, of planting farms, all of course without the use of alchemy. He mentioned that similar to Liore, they were going to rebuild this province with own hands. Mustang said that resources would be shipped in from the west, and they planned on also constructing a railroad leading into Ishval, which brought some concern among the people, but mustang explained that a train leading into their land doesn't actually go against any of their teachings, which they mostly agreed with. He also explained that whoever their religious leader was would act as a governing body, essentially they would be like a senator or mayor in the area, that way they could incorporate Ishval into the future democratic government. The people would decide on their own who their spiritual leader, and despite the fact that it didn't match up with the format he had planned for the rest of the Amestrian provinces, the General had faith that it would still be able to work with the rest of the democratic government. The Ishvalan people brought forth a man who Scar recognised as his former mentor, and Mustang was informed that he was the current Imam of Ishval, which mustang took no issue with. He explained that to allow Ishvalans to be incorporated smoothly into society, he was going to have to be educated in the ways of the democratic government that was going to be put in place by Roy, and that he was going to have to attend congressional meetings. With this fact now on the table, the Imam agreed to take part in this, and so they had gotten past the one of the essential pieces to the puzzle. The meeting was called to a close and Mustang went back inside his shack.

"Ugh, I cannot wait for these to be taken down and replaced with newer buildings. The way these are put together, it causes air to be let in but then it just stays in, it's like living inside an oven." Roy said to Riza who was sitting across from him. "You know, it's so hot in here that you might just want to take off some of your clothes." Riza who was looking down blushed a little.

"That's not going to happen sir, and if I was I wouldn't do it in front of you."

"What you don't trust me?"

"No, I just don't want to give you something else to distract you from your work, which speaking of, you need to get back to it."

"Man you don't let up Riza." Roy stood up and straightened his collar. Riza sat there still looking at the materials acquisitions form she had in her hands.

"You'll have to be smoother, and much more subtle than that if you want to get m-" Riza realized something and began to blush heavily. "He called me Riza didn't he?" She smiled to herself. "It seems your more subtle than I thought Mustang." Riza finished filling out the form and stood up. "I guess I should go deliver this to Mr. Casanova." She walked out of the house and looked around a bit before spotting the General holding a large sheet of paper, and walking along with Miles, Scar, and the Imam. She jogged up to where they were and began walking alongside the group.

"So essentially we're going to start out by demolishing and clearing this central area, and zone out a town hall, as well as simultaneously clearing out land on the other side of town to place an electrical plant and a sewage treatment plant."

"General Sir, I finished filling out the materials acquisitions form you requested sir."

"Ah much appreciated Hawkeye, if you could give these to Fuery for me that would be a huge help."

"Yes sir." Hawkeye went off to deliver the form, and so Mustang continued.

"If we send out 500 of the Ishvalans to recruit then they can go in groups of five to the different slums to gather Ishvalans. All the while we'll divy up the about 2500 into four groups, two of those will be deconstruction, which will be seperated into the central district and the utilities area, then there will be the group responsible for cleaning up rubble and other issues, and then we'll have the group for moving caravans of supplies which will transfer into a construction group once the demolition is done around the city, which by then, in my timescale, we'll have 97% of the materials we'll need, but by then the rail will be done, as that's being built by an Amestrian group already. If all goes to plan, we'll have six months of demolition, six months of construction, then another three months of demolition, and another three months of construction, the last six months of our two year timetable will be used for specialization, and taking care of any small problems, at that point the area will be nearly complete and we'll have Ishvalans start to move in and observe them living for a while, so then we can solve any problems that arise, before they become major. In this case the hardest points are going to be this first month, with getting everyone arranged and sorted, and getting the plan across to everyone, and the last six months, as we have to be extremely thorough in our observation of the city."

"Wow seems like you've got every little thing planned out for this…"

"Well I have been preparing this for a while, and you have to sweat the small stuff when your building a city from scratch."

"That's true, I guess you can't be sloppy with something this important."

"Yeah, and anyways my future as a leader is hinging on this going well."

Ed and Alphonse were getting dressed, today was their last day in central. They'd had a worthwhile time and Mrs. Gracia had been nothing but kind to them. Their bodies had been built up to a good point, though Al still had to use a cane at times when his legs didn't want be cooperative but that he could deal with, and despite the fact that he had to use assistance when walking, he was otherwise absolutely fit, at this point with his face, his hair and his muscles, Ed wondered whether Al was going to be able to get the ladies off of him. Ed put on a white jacket and Al put on the vest he had liked so much back when they went shopping. They stepped out into the dining room where Mrs. Gracia was.

"Thank you for taking car of us while we healed up, Mrs. Gracia, we really do appreciate it."

"Yeah I'm not sure how we'll ever repay you."

"Well, as long as you use those bodies for good, then that's good enough for me."

"Alright, we'll make sure of it." With that the brothers left her house to go to the train station.

In all of the shades of brown and orange, it wasn't very hard to find Lieutenant Fuery's blue uniform. Riza weaved her way through a crowd, finally making it to where Fuery was. As she approached the Lieutenant she saw that he was staring at a table covered in assorted parts.

"Lieutenant Fuery, I have the materials acquisitions form that the General told me to give you."

"Oh thank you Sir, I was told that you'd be bringing me that." Fuery folded the form and slid it into the inside pocket of his uniform.

"What are you looking at Lieutenant?"

"Oh I was planning on making a fuse box, I need to start doing this kind of stuff, General Mustang has put me in charge of planning out the pasic power line placement, at least until the electrical engineer he hired gets here."  
"Oh well that seems fitting for you Fuery, you being into that kind of stuff."

"Don't get it mixed up, a knowledge of radio techknowledgey does not directly translate into general electronics knowledge, this is still very new to me, and it's going to take a while before I can really make much sense of this."

"Oh well good luck with that Fuery…" With that Riza left to go find Havoc and Breda so that they could begin their part of the plan. They had been tasked with gathering up people and working with scar to form the groups and lead them. They had to figure out what people would work best in what groups. As they met up in the center of town they began to work out how they would divide the people. They eventually decided on filling the recruitment group with the injured and elderly people, as they would have the easiest job, the resource gatherers would be filled with the women and children, and the demolition, and debris clearing groups would have the men, who would then join the construction group later. They all set off to gather the crowd again and separate them up into those groups, luckily the amount of people per group matched up quite well with their planned amounts, and the differences were filled by the men, which left them with good numbers all around. Scar was decided to lead one of the destruction groups, and Havoc took charge of the other. Breda was put in charge of the debris clearing group, and Riza led the resource convoy group, and with that they had completed their first task. The work hours were decided as nine am to five pm, with break times outlined in there, and a designated few chefs who were supposed to help cook their breakfasts, lunches and dinners. The first month went better than expected, other than a few small hiccups, and near the end a large portion of the recruitment teams came back, each with around fifty to one hundred people, totalling in about seven hundred more people to be added to the cause. The new members were separated into their respective groups and work continued at a steady rate. The temporary quarters for the people were set up in a small camp on the outskirts of the building zone. The second month had started and they were already starting with a much better position on the project that in the first month.

The General was walking through the primary demolition zone, which was being taken down by large teams of Ishvalans. The district was almost completely finished, except for the largest building that Mustang was looking at. It was the largest in the area and had been chosen to be taken down last. Mustang entered the building and began looking around, the building wasn't particularly different from the other ones he had inspected. He had been all around the district, meticulously checking each building for any harmful substances or objects, before they were taken down, as having something that could create a harmful air pollutant or injury, would not be able to be stopped once they had felled the building, and if the dust from that had harmful substances, the entire area around there would have to be evacuated, setting them back quite a bit in their timescale, or even worse, if it went unnoticed it could cause irreparable damage to the people in that area, without them even realising it. So he was here inspecting the large building here to make sure there was nothing dangerous. The building itself wasn't particularly interesting, but there were quite a lot of ornate rugs, and small statuettes in it. As they were being carried out he wondered what this building had been used for. It couldn't have been a religious temple or something like that, as he had expressly asked to be shown where all those types of buildings were so that they could be cordoned off to avoid destroying them, and it wasn't some kind of house, as there was no bed, neither was there an oven. As he saw one of the Ishvalans carrying out a pipe-bowl, with a long tube attached to it, it hit him. This place was an opium den, he should of realized it sooner from the smell that hung from the walls. It was very faint but the scent of opium clung to the insides of the building. He chuckled to himself a little, he hadn't expected something like this to exist in this town, but he had walked into one. As he thought to himself he heard a great deal of yelling outside, and began to feel the ground under him start to shake. He realised that he had put himself on the second floor of a collapsing building, as dust began to fill the air, and the building began to tip to the side, he started to run towards the door, he managed to make it down the stairs and nearly got to the door, by the time the floor caved in and everything went black.


	6. Policies & Problems

Colonel Hawkeye sat in the front of the cart she was in charge of, despite the fact that she had never ridden a horse before, she had gotten the hold on driving a horse cart pretty quickly. Ishval had risen over the horizon, which due to the spare thinking time she got while driving supply carts, she had calculated had happened exactly thirty six minutes ago, and she was now at the town. As the colonel got off the cart, she heard yelling from inside the town. She would've paid no mind to it and kept unloading her stuff, except that she had heard quite a lot of the name Mustang being yelled, which caused her to rush over. As she sprinted through the town, the yelling became increasingly louder, and she became proportionally more worried about what was going on. The crowd of people around the situation wasn't very dense, and as she turned the corner, all her fears became not only confirmed, but intensified. She saw a pile of rubble and under that pile of rubble was one arm covered in a blue sleeve and a white glove. Time stopped, as she froze there not a single second went by. 'That's not Roy right, it couldn't be, there was no way that Roy had somehow gotten trapped under a building, it was probably some soldier that roy had called to town, and even if it was Roy there was no way he was dead, that couldn't be a possibility. Ok Riza, you need to stay calm, remember what he told you, if anything has happened then he needs your help to get him out of that rubble. That needs to priority number one.' Riza unfroze her legs and ran over to the rubble, pushing people out of the way. She managed to start pushing quite large rocks out of the way, like she had some kind of super strength. At this point how heavy the rocks were didn't even cross her mind, all she was thinking about was getting the General out of there. As she pulled the rock that was on Roy's head off she saw that he was okay and had gotten off with only a cut on his forehead, as she pulled more rocks off she saw that his left arm hadn't gotten off so easy. The forearm was bent in a v-shape, from being pushed by a large boulder onto a divot made by two rocks below it. As she pulled the arm up, she saw that he had a compound fracture, as the bone was sticking through his uniform. Riza began to clear the other rocks off of his body, she didn't know all that much about medicine, but she did know at least the basics. She reached his wrist and took his pulse, she felt blood pumping so she knew he at least was still alive. She picked up his body off of the ground and began to run off to the camp outside of the base. The only medical staff they had on site were there and so her decision was to bring the General there, as they were the only people who had the equipment and training to help with his injuries. Once she had gotten him to the medical facility she gave him to the personnel, told him of what injuries she could see on his body and trusted the doctors. As she walked out of the medical tent she looked back, 'I need to keep moving forward with the job he's given me, if he were awake that's what he would tell me to do. It's not as if my presence by his side will make him heal faster, I just have to believe in him and make sure my portion of the job is done right.

Winry's eyes opened to a nice light seeping into her room from the window, this morning wasn't really anything different than the thousands of other mornings she had experienced, but in a way it felt wildy off from how she usually woke up. That being because she finally had her boys back. And the one she loved, who had left her in the dark for so long about what was happening with them, had come back alive. When Al told her what had happened, Ed was oddly humble about his part in it, usually considering the was Ed was, you wouldn't be able to get him to shut up about how he punched a god to death. But he just kept saying that it was all thanks to the people around him. And Al, who only knew from what other people told him had happened, said that Ed quote "Straight up right hooked a deity into oblivion." As she got up from he bed, amongst the sounds of birds chirping and leaves rustling, she heard a steady and dull thudding noise. THUD, and then a few seconds of silence, and then THUD again. Winry walked up to her window and looked out to see what was making the noise, and as she pulled open her blinds, she saw a shirtless Edward, chopping wood outside. She wondered as to why he was doing so, and she planned to ask him, but she wanted to relish in that sight of him a little bit longer. He chopped three more logs of wood and then picked them up and began walking into the house. Winry went down to the basement to meet him, and as he walked in and saw her standing there his face turned into a frown.

"What are you going to yell at me for this time Winry?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to know what your doing so early in the morning chopping wood?"

"Well I woke up and the house was super cold so I decided to chop some wood and start up a fire."

"Yeah but you do realize that we already have wood right?"

"Mhm, I just figured that i should chop as much I plan to burn. You know equivalent exchange and all that."

"You alchemists and your principles, and besides that, why are you shirtless?"

"It's hard work chopping this, and despite how cold it is outside, i was sweating up a storm." Winry hadn't noticed before, but now that she could see him up close she took note of all the sweat on him, hanging to his muscles, and giving him a shine like freshly polished automail. "Oh and about that whole alchemist thing I think we need to talk about that."  
"Well whatever it is, it can wait until you put on a shirt and head upstairs." Winry left the cellar and went back up into the first floor kitchen. She put an apron on and got a pan out, just as a fully clothed Ed walked up the stairs.

"Oh are you making breakfast?"

"I had planned on it." Winry said as she turned around. "Why?"

"Oh well I was wondering if you could teach me how…"  
"What do you mean teach you how?"

"I want you to show me how to cook…"

"Why do you want to do that? Don't you have your alchemy? Why don't you just transmute food if you want to make it?"

"Well that's what I wanted to talk to you about…" Ed sat down at the dining room table, Winry walked over and sat down as well.

"What is it Ed?"

"When I got Al and I's bodies back, there was a price I had to pay to do so, and that price was my alchemy. I'm never going to be able to do alchemy again but that's ok, because I want to learn how to do other things, without my alchemy. And I've got friends like you to help me with that." Winry's eyes went wide for second but she soon regained her composure and set her hands on Ed's

"Well then…" She hopped off of the chair with a big smile on her face. "I'll teach you how to cook food." She led edward off of the chair by the hand and over to the counter. Edward went wide-eyed, he had hoped she would help teach him, but he hadn't expected this kind of enthusiasm. "So what do you want to learn how to make?"

"Well I guess whatever you were planning to make…"

"I was going to make bacon and eggs for breakfast, so I'll teach you that."

"Oh I can make something like that." Edward said, as he turned the oven on and grabbed an egg.

"No wait Ed-" But her words were too late as he cracked an egg, which spilled all over the entirety of that part of the counter, and on to the floor. "I was going to say you need to have a bowl for it…"

"Sorry… I guess that might not have been my best move. Alright, show me how to do this." Winry sighed and walked up to the counter, she began to show Ed all the different things you had to do to prepare an egg, and how to start bacon frying. As the egg was cooking and it was time to flip it over, Winry wrapped her arms around Ed, which caused a huge blush to cover his face. "W-winry, what are you d-doing?"

"I'm trying to show you how to flip this ok, so just pay attention." As Winry grabbed his hands, he tried to focus on what he was doing, but all he could think about was how warm she felt, pressing against him. The egg got flipped and Ed managed to remember how, due to the warm impression of Winry's hands on his being stuck in his mind. He had the same kind of warmth in his chest, but he didn't want to admit it. No matter how much he knew it was true he wasn't going to admit to what Hawkeye had said to him.

An eyepatch, a cast, and a very pissed off expression. That is what Mustang wore, among other things when he addressed the Ishvalan people the next week. The meeting had two simple reasons,

"Well Ishvalans, after a week of being out of commission, due to the premature demolition of what was an opium den,"

Those were, one address where they were progress wise moving into the third month,

"And sustaining, fortunately, a simple compound fracture, which I luckily didn't get to see, and a minor eye injury, which I _can't_ see, I now stand before you to discuss why this happened."

And the second, to put in place new policies, relating to the construction and demolition phases of the project.

"Now, I'm not here to point fingers at anyone, as I was unconscious for most of that incident, and despite the fact that I could track down the crew who was working on that, I'm not going to. This is a group effort, and anyways it was of no fault on their part that I happened to be in the building, the fault lays in the times that we do the demolitions and rebuilds." Mustang motioned for Fuery to hand him the documents he had in his hands. "Now, as I was stuck in a hospital bed for a week, I had some free time on my hands. So I spent that time with lieutenant Fuery, building an advanced schedule for the project. The reason I requested a report on our progress is so that I can make sure that this advanced schedule fits what were doing. As I needed to make sure we didn't fall behind, I had no time to speak with my subordinates, scar or the Imam. So could all the group leaders step forward and give me a report on their progress?"  
The first person to step forward was Riza,

"Sir! The resource team has brought the projected amount of supplies and materials for this month in, Sir!" The Ishvalans were a bit taken back by her assertiveness, but they figured that would be the way that a member of the military would act. Next up was Scar,

"The first deconstruction team is up to schedule as well." Scar said bluntly, which was followed by Jean,

"Sir! The second deconstruction team is where it's supposed to be, Sir!" Havoc said with less vigor than Riza. Next Breda stepped up to address Roy,

"Sir, the rubble clearing team is up to snuff, and ends up with little to do, as we end up ahead of the demo teams." With his less than enthused address, the last report was waiting to come from the Imam.

"Ah yes, well the recruitment team hasn't had as much luck, as our numbers, have steadily dropped from the first influx of people."

"Well, then with all those reports out of the way, I'd like to hand out these detailed schedules for the procedures that will take place continuing on. As you all seem to be able to deal with the workload so far, this should be no problem." Fuery began moving through the crowd handing out the stack of papers he had in his hands. "The schedule still fits within out timeframe, and actually decreases the daily workload, with the work being quota based, instead of hour based. This will allow for better quality of work, and keep incidents like mine from happening, as we will all know exactly when each building is being taken down, and which ones are being put up. Which brings me to my next point, as we now are working on a much more accurate scale of area, construction will take place at the same time as deconstruction. And as we have more than half of our original group added to this populous, splitting parts of groups and creating a new construction group shouldn't be hard. Havoc will take over that part, and Scar will take over the entirety that makes up the rest of the demolition team. I'm sure that works for both of you?" Both the men nodded to Roy. "Alright then, if we all agree on this new Policy, then we can move forward, and this meeting is adjourned." Roy walked off the stage and back towards the camp and into the medical facility. He sat down and let the doctor examine his wounds. 'When is doctor Marcoh going to be here. He said he had to take care of some business, but I didn't think it would take him this long, he said he wanted to help do something good without hsi alchemy, so why has it been two months since I've heard from him?' Mustang stood up and began to walk out of the tent.

"Make sure you take those antibiotics I gave you Roy."

"Yeah, I will…" Roy walked over to the tent that was being used as a headquarters for the whole operation, in a way the base was actually the HQ and that tent was more of just a central command center. He walked in to see Fuery and Miles standing at the center table. When they saw him enter they both saluted.

"At ease men, what are you two doing here?"

"Well sir…" Fuery hesitated,

"Spit it out Fuery."

"Sir, the main source of water in this area, it's contaminated…" Mustang's eyes went wide for a second, but he cooled down so that he could hear the rest of it.

"With what?"

"Well sir, certain amounts of iron from the demolition, and a significant amount of lead had been detected in the water."

"Well then, it's one problem to the next around here isn't it?" Fuery looked nervous. "If we can keep this under wraps and solve it quietly, then no one will be the wiser. Now how did the lead get in the water?"  
"Our current theory is that lead from bullets used in the Ishvalan war ended up going down the wells in the area."

"Well, if we can quickly solve this with alchemy then it should be easy. I know what I agreed to but we're not going to get out of this any other way with what we have, and if now one knows then know one knows. Fuery, Miles how many people know about this right now?"

"As of this moment, the man who tested the water, Miles and I."

"Then it'll be night time soon, we do this tonight, but before then, I need you to get as much coal as you can, as well as a bit of cloth. Once everyone's asleep we move at midnight." With that Fuery ran out of the tent and began moving to the material drop of zone, he began looking around for coal, after moving around through the stacks of materials he finally found the coal bin, he began to fill the bag that Mustang gave him with coal, as the sun was setting he began moving faster and tied the bag off. As he left the materials depot he ran into someone and fell to the ground.

"Ah jeez, ow, sorry about that." He rubbed his head and got up, when he saw who he hit he jumped back.

"Oh Sergeant Fuery, what are you doing out here?"

"Ah well… Mustang gave me a task to do for him."

"Oh, I thought you were planning out the power lines?"

"Oh, I finished the base for that a while ago, the professional arrived last month to finish that up. He's going to start along with the construction team tomorrow with laying down the lines with his team, I've essentially been his secretary in your stead."

"Well then, I guess I shouldn't hold you up Secretary Fuery." She gave a little giggle and kept walking along.

"Hey!" He yelled after her. "Hmph, I'd better keep going, It's going to be night soon."


	7. Here's Where We Are

The sun had gone down, and everyone had gone to sleep, excluding Mustang, Fuery and Miles, who were still up, but were getting tired eyes. It was midnight now, and they were all dressed in black clothes, befitting of a secret mission. They walked to the main water source in the town, out of the three that were available. From the bar they hung a rope and tied it around Roy's waist, and began to lower him down.

"Slower Fuery!"

"I'm trying sir!"

"Hush you two! You're gonna wake up the whole camp at this point!" They finally got Mustang and his bag down there, where once he was stable clapped his hands together and a faintly visible light appeared from inside the well. After that a pole of lead and then iron came funneling up the shaft of the well, where Miles and Fuery grabbed it and put it to the side of the well. Mustang then tied up the bag full of coal extremely tight and set it into the water. As they lifted him up he hit one of the walls and yelped a little but they didn't have much trouble the rest of the way up. Their next stop was the two pumps located in the town. They made their way over, carrying two smaller bags.

"The water source is the same for the whole area, when I was down there it felt surprisingly open, so we just have to put filters in these." As they arrived at the first water source Mustang did a quick transmutation to remove the rust from the inside of the pipe, and they then took the smaller bag full of coal and stuffed it into the pipes. Then to make sure it still worked they gave it a few pumps until water finally came out, meaning they had successfully installed the filter and it was now flooded enough that water would go through it. They made their way over to the last pipe and opened up the top. As they stared down into the shaft of the pipe they saw it was covered in moss and mold, which if the lead wasn't bad enough, they could bacterial infections to their list of future problems. The thing was they had to remove this manually, as Mustang had no knowledge of organic alchemy. Mustang used alchemy to remove the pipe at the spot where the moss had stopped appearing, and began removing the moss and mold. 'Ironically I don't think this pipe would've been a problem anyways, considering that it was used so little that moss could grow to this amount, but it wouldn't be a problem anymore anyways, since the charcoal filter would prevent moss forming in general, and logically past the filter due to physical limitation' Mustang thought to himself as he removed the moss. Once that was done he had Fuery stuff the filter inside of the pipe and then he alchemically reattached the pipe. But due to the easily visible alchemy marks on it he covered the pipe in a little dirt on the outside, and made sure that is wasn't that noticeable. They got back into their beds as the sun began to rise, which led to a long next day, but it was worth it as the problem was now fixed, and once the new water pipes were installed that would cease to even be able to become a problem. But in the meantime any stray iron or lead was to be picked up and deposited in newly placed collection bins around the work areas. And with this, Mustang unknowingly had solved the last of all the major problems that would befall the Ishvalan region during the building phase, and had began the smooth sailing on the rocky sea that was politics.

A hiss, not a hiss, a squeak, or… maybe a creak? Ah, a shower, that's what it was, but who? Not her, obviously, and Al never showered this early, actually Al was never up this early. Pinako didn't take showers, in favor of the bath, so that meant it was Ed. A squeak, as he turned the handle, the hiss as the shower turned off, and the exclamation of 'Oh fuck' when he realised the mistake he had made. He had grabbed a towel but he forgot his clothes. Of course when he lived on the road with Alphonse, he had never needed to worry about it. And he had dealt with the changeover pretty well, with most other things, but he had just woken up, and felt like he needed a shower, and had taken a blurry eyed, stumble into the bathroom, grabbing only a towel on the way there. His only option at this point was to go out, and make a beeline dash down the downstairs hallway, up the stairs and into his room. He considered how long this would take, and how loud it would be, not only would he run the risk of getting caught, even if he didn't, anyone he had woken up would probably be highly pissed. Winry stepped off of her bed and lazily flung her sheets and blanket back into what was, almost, a made bed. She then stumbled to her door and opened it, and rubbed her eyes to try and awaken herself. Ed wrapped his towel tightly around his waist, and opened the bathroom door, the small creak causing him to winch. He needed to get upstairs without making any noises that would cause someone who was awake to find a reason to leave their rooms. It wasn't as if Ed was incapable, he made it up to the landing, without even a creak, and he did it quite quickly as well, using what he had been studying, and what he had already learned. And he made it the rest of the way too keeping his eyes locked on his bedroom door, stepping up onto the top floor and sighing the air he had been holding in his lungs for no real reason.

Winry yawned loudly, "Oh good morning Ed, how ar-" It was as if someone had thrown paint on her face, plastered with red and just staring, frozen. Ed slowly turned his head and like a thermometer the red in his face rose from the bottom to the top. As they both looked at eachother and made the realisation of what had happened, Ed began to run towards his room, pumping his feet as hard as he could. He hoped that Winry would have to go back into her room to get a wrench, but unfortunately for him Winry wouldn't be caught be caught dead without one on her. And even more unfortunate for Ed was that she was on point today, and absolutely clocked him with the wrench, right in the head, dropping him to the floor and dropping his towel from him as well. Which resulted in two more wrenches thrown at his head, then Winry ran into her room and slammed the door. This awoke Al who groggily stepped out of his room and saw Ed on the floor.

"Brother, what are you doing naked, on the floor, surrounded by wrenches?"  
Muffled through the floor Ed tried to say. "Took a shower. Forgot clothes." Al understood what had happened and helped his brother up off the ground and into his room.

Winry hid behind her door, breathing quickly, her heart racing, her face covered in a blush. 'I didn't see anything, I didn't see anything, I didn't see anything.' She had to be the way she was, of course she had a feeling in the back of her head, a thought that she had wanted to stare just a little bit longer. It was lewd of her, and she didn't like it, but she couldn't deny the fact that, she had in some regard enjoyed that scene. Perhaps her inability to deny what she felt, was why she was so embarrassed right now. And perhaps the thought of what she had planned to do afterwards with that image, was what made her even more embarrassed.

The hot desert air, the sun beating down. The sounds of people happily chatting, and water running. The vision of what this area was, had changed drastically over the two years that had passed since Mustang had started this endeavor. He stood atop what was once the building he'd sat in before he started his first speech. He looked down at the people, their smiling faces, lifting a burden that he had pressing down upon his soul for so long. In a way the healing for these people was healing for himself as well.

"You really did a number on this place." Mustang jumped and turned around to see who was behind him. From his voice he had guessed it was Scar and that was confirmed when he turned around. Scar was behind him wearing his usual clothes, walking towards him. "It seems like the people around here have a reason to smile again." Scar sat down next to Mustang and put his hand onto his knee.

"Well it's the people who made this possible."  
"But none of us would have been able to plan out something like this, that scar on your arm proves that we weren't in any position to do this on our own, as much as it pains me to admit it." Scar looks up at Mustang staring him in the eyes. "You know if you told me three years ago that I'd be giving thanks to an Amestrian General, especially you, the hero of the Ishvalan war."

"Well I never thought that someone like you would have helped to change our country, but it seems that even the worst people can change." Mustang sighed, the sun was setting, and they were about to begin a celebratory feast as the last day of construction was about to be finished. They had gotten all their checkmarks, and the population as of their latest count was around 11,000 people, and with the monitoring month about to start, everything was working out.

"You know I'm only going to say this once, and if you tell anybody, I'll deny it, but it seems I was wrong about you."

"Haha, yeah I suppose I had the wrong Idea about you as well." Mustang stood up, and Scar followed.

"So what are you going to do from here?"

"Well once our monitoring month is over, I plan to head back to central and become the fuhrer, at least until I make it so that it's not called that anymore."

"Well I'm sure that if you have my support, then you'll have the support of the Ishvalan people as well." Scar gave a rare smile at Mustang, which was kind of odd looking as it had been a while since Scar had smiled. Mustang gave a wave and began to walk to the door off of the rooftop. He opened the door and walked through, taking a couple slow steps down the stairs, with some added vigor in his walk.

"Well look at you getting all buddy buddy, seems like you've changed since we first came here."

"Ah! Jesus Riza, that's the second time I've been snuck up on today."

"Well then you should work on your awareness sir."

"How much of that did you hear?"

"I followed you up here after Scar."

"Oh, well lets just keep this between us ok?"

"Don't worry sir" Riza walked down a few steps to where Mustang was and reached down to grab his hand. "I'm proud of you, these people have a home where they can celebrate their culture again." Roy blushed a bit, but tried to hide it, but that became impossible when Riza wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Not only did you help these people but you helped me, I will never truly be able to forget what I did here, but thanks to you I can breathe easier, and close my eyes without images of tragedy flooding my mind. Thank you Roy." Mustang's face went absolutely tomato red, but he took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around Riza.

The train station. A brown jacket, and a white hoodie, but before that. Morning, Ed had told Winry that he was going to be leaving today. Al had already left a few day ago to give his regards to their friends in East city, and Ed had gotten the task of visiting Izumi and Olivier, as they were part of the only trips they had to make into the north and south, and given that Al was taking the north and Ed was going west It just seemed easier that way. Ed had already been awake for a while and was ready to set off, he'd already given his goodbyes to Pinako, so Winry threw on some clothes and grabbed a random jacket off the hangar, and ran downstairs. Ed asked the out of breath Winry if she would be willing to walk with him to the train station. He had planned to ask her what he had planned to for these couple of years that he'd been living with her. They stepped outside and began to walk to the train station, when Winry began telling him all the things he needed to remember, not only about his automail, but his cooking and housekeeping lessons that she had given him. They finally arrived at the train station, and Ed was about to step onto the train, when he turned around to ask her. He saw her face and forgot everything he had planned, and started to sweat.

"Equivalent exchange! I'll give you half of my life if you give me half of yours!" Which led to Winry explaining that she would give him her whole life, and Ed laughed at her words. He pulled her into a hug, and smiled. He smiled so brightly and genuinely because he had something to always look forward to. Even when he was alone and feeling his worst, he now had Winry to be there, whether or not she was physically present. Ed stood back still holding Winry, and looked into her eyes, the two not saying anything as they looked at each other in this moment. Ed took a deep breath and leaned in and kissed Winry, his arms still holding her back up, as she almost fell over. She was wide eyed, in absolute shock, but then it set in. How his lips felt against hers, the warmth of his body and the passion in his face, and so she closed her eyes and embraced Ed savoring the kiss that had been placed upon her. She had been given a gift, and so she would reciprocate this gift by giving back to him. After a full minute of being locked at the lips Ed finally pulled away, out of breath. He looked at Winry and turned around to board the train.

"I'll be sure to call you when my automail breaks down, Winry." He gave her a wave and stepped onto the train, leaving her with a smile on her face.

"Oh I see Edward's doing some traveling as well, why can't those boys just settle down for a while?" A woman at the train station said to Winry.

"It's good for them to keep moving, men who just sit around doing nothing are boring."

"And it seems you've found one of them to be otherwise?"

"Oh my, you saw that then…"

"Oh don't worry, there's nothing wrong with seeing young lovers."

"Well, then I'd better get back, I suppose I'll have to head out to fix his automail at some point, so I probably won't be a stranger to this station." Winry began to walk out of the train station, happily holding the jacket that had Ed's smell lingering on it.

Ed sat on the train, looking out the window, thinking to himself, wondering what this new place was going to be like, Creta to the east, a land where we had been at war for many years, and where the current Fuhrer, had been working so diligently to bring about a ceasefire, to which the Prime Minister of Creta had been hesitant at first, but at hearing that the Fuhrer had been replaced, he quickly agreed in the hopes of being able to form a peace treaty in the future. Luckily Ed had made his move a few months after the border was opened, once a passage through had been opened. Not only had Ed been working on his self defense with Izumi, and general life skills that Winry had been teaching him, but he had also gotten a large amount of official documentation done, alongside Al, so that they could leave the country. He had prepared himself for this trip, bringing only a few changes of clothes, his journals, and his alchemy notes. He planned on going to Creta to find something new, and give back more than he has taken.

Here's where we are. A crowd, a man, a shitty mustache, which he had received comments from everyone he passed by about. Even when Alphonse came through Ishval on his way to Xing, he had looked at him and burst out into laughter, and said that he looked ridiculous. Riza had made him promise to cut it off, but he said he would only do so after his inauguration. Which is where we are now, Roy Mustang up on a stage again, giving a speech about the country, and how he planned to run it.

"I'll say it now, as a promise to you all. By the end of the first year of my rule, it won't be called a rule anymore. The leader after that will be voted in to his office, that's my promise." He flat out said it, and the faces of the people in the crowd, were not angry, as much as they were confused. But as they thought about it, they decided that didn't sound bad at all, and they began to clap, and they all clapped until their cheers and shouts became deafening.

He had arrived in Xing yesterday, and had stayed in a funny smelling place, that made him feel kind of fuzzy. But it was still a place to sleep, and he had woken up feeling good the next day. And now he was walking through the streets of Xing trying to make it to the capitol building, where the emperor's palace was. He had received a telegram from Ling with instructions on how to get to the palace from the train station, he explained that he would have sent a guard to help him, but they were all busy trying to vet the palace visitors. Al had sent back a thanks and told him when he would arrive in Xing. And so he was in Xing, but just as he had been back in Baschool, since he had stopped at that weird hotel, he was now looking for vague landmarks to get to the capitol. He turned the corner expecting to find just another street, but was met instead with a beautiful red and gold road, with no cars on it, and guards posted every ten meters or so. He began to walk up the street with his coat draped over his arm, holding the telegram in his hand. He was starting to wish that Zampano and Jerso had come with him on the train ride, rather than staying back to give their regards and get their belongings together. He got to the front gate of the palace and looked at the guards trying to figure out what he should say.

"STOP! Do not go further, the emperor Ling has decreed that no guests may enter today, as he is expecting a V.I.P." Alphonse stepped back and began to turn around, when he heard a faraway scream.

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!" Alphonse whipped around to see Ling in the open gates. He was bent over breathing heavily, looking at Alphonse. "Al come inside please."

"Oh but I thought you had a V.I.P. coming today?"

"Alphonse," Ling walked up and put his arm around Al. "You're the V.I.P.!"


	8. Reunion

Ling began to walk in with Alphonse, the two with their arms around each other.

"Man, Alphonse you're a lady killer, it seems like you became a fair bit more handsome ever since you first got your body back."

"Oh no, I wouldn't say that." Alphonse blushed to himself.  
"Don't take it from me, women had all their eyes on you, they were walking up and down the street, glued to you." Alphonse and Ling kept walking up to the palace, leaving the front gate and the two guards behind.

"Man, that was the V.I.P.?"

"I guess so, I didn't expect it to be an Amestrian…"

"No dude that wasn't any normal Amestrian, didn't you see his eyes? They were golden, like that old sage they talk about, an Immortal being, and all that."

"Hmm, do you think he's some kind of prince?"

"Probably, he had a very prince-like look to him, he had the pretty face of a noble, but he had no guards with him, and he seemed to have walked the whole way here." The guards figured that they would find out who he was at some point. Ling threw open the doors to the palace, revealing a nearly empty room, with a couple of guards, and a very intricately decorated throne.

"Tada! Here he is everyone! The man of the hour! Alphonse Elric!" Alphonse gave a wave to all the people looking at him. In the courtyard behind the palace, Lan Fan and Mei Chang were engaging in training exercises with each other, and they had just finished. After getting out of the shower they both looked at the other in their casual clothes, and smiled.

"Lets go and greet the prince Lan."

"Yeah he's probably waiting for us." The two began walking down the hallway, discussing what they did good and bad in their training session when they heard the yelling of the prince, muffled through the walls. They turned their heads towards each other, and then began running down the hallway, towards the throne room. The doors to the throne room burst open followed by Lan and Mei.

"Sir what's wrong!?"

"Young Lord is there a problem?!" The two were holding bouquets of kunai in their hands, and they had very angry looks on their faces. The two scanned the room, and the sound of metal clanging was heard as Mei dropped her kunai knives. She ran over to Alphonse and tackled him in a hug, while in tears.

"Oh Alphonse! I missed you so much!" She said through tears, on top of Al

"Haha, I missed you too Mei, it's been too long." Al began to get up and Mei helped him, allowing him to take in just how tall Mei had gotten. "Oh my gosh may, you've grown so much taller, and you've gotten prettier as well." Mei blushed a ferocious red and looked at Al.

"Well I am older than you, if you didn't know."

"Wait so how old are you?"

"I'm seventeen, a few months older than you."

"Oh my, then you really were a small thing back then."

"Hey! That's only because you were so tall! Speaking of you've changed yourself, it seems that your face was just as pretty as I imagined it was…"

"Haha, it seems like everyone's telling me that nowadays."

"Whos been saying that! I will destroy any competition for you!"

"Don't worry Mei I didn't just come here to learn alkahestry, I remember you said you'd be waiting for me, right?" Al gave Mei a wink and walked over to Lan, who held out her right hand to Al who took it and shook it. "Have you been doing well Lan?"

"Ah yes I've been doing good since that day."

"I know it's might be rude of me to ask but how's your automail been?"

"Oh I don't mind, I've really gotten used to it, and It hasn't been acting up at all recently."

"Well that's good, I'm happy you've been doing well."

"How has Lord Edward been?"

"He's been living comfortably, he's headed off to Creta to learn more techniques, although he can't use his alchemy anymore, so he's planning on giving me the knowledge he gains, and were going to make something new." Alphonse, finished with his reunions, walked back over to Ling, who was still smaller than him. "What happens now?"

"Well, now WE FEAST!"

"Haha, you never change Ling."

Edward's train arrived in Dublith, where he got off and walked to the Curtis household, he held his briefcase and gave a quick three knocks onto the door of the household, to which Sig responded and opened the door.

"Oh Edward, are you here to see Izumi?"

"Yeah, I came to give my goodbyes before I went off to Creta." Sig nodded and went back inside for a minute before coming back and telling Ed to come inside. Ed walked in, smelling that all too familiar scent that he recognized from the house. He was led by Sig into their bedroom where Izumi was sitting up, covered by a blanket.

"Hello sensei,"

"I'd smack you for saying that if I could, but It's too much trouble to get out of bed right now."

"Haha, that's the same old teacher I know." Ed leaned down and gave her a hug. "I'm going off to Creta, to learn more about the world. When I come back me and Winry are going to live together."

"It seems you finally have you life together, you boys are finally at a solid place in your lives for once. And without your alchemy, which is how I think it should be, you better use the combat skills I've taught you for good."

"I will teacher, I'm going on this trip to find a new way to use alchemy to help the world." Izumi coughed a bit and covered her mouth.  
"Well I'll be supporting you." Ed got up and made his way toward the door, as he walked out Sig yelled to him.

"Don't forget to send a letter sometime!"  
"I will!" And Ed began walking towards the train station with a smile on his face. He had been against his part in the farewells, as Al had given him the two worst ones. Next was the train trip to the north, which wouldn't be a problem considering the fact that he had told Winry to keep his winter model on his leg, since he preferred being lightweight. He got onto the train and fell asleep waiting for his arrival at the north station.

Roy Mustang sat in his office, with a stack of paperwork in front of him, material acquisitions forms, for the voting booths, and lots of legal forms. The assembly had already been fired and replaced with voted in congress members from the cities around Amestris. Most of the changes that Mustang was going to put in place had been successfully passed through congress, as they were also in favor of having the new system that Mustang was proposing, and the pathway for him was clear. Even if he wasn't re-elected, what he had set up, would stay there long after he was gone. Mustang finished signing the last paper he had for the time and went out onto the balcony. He looked over the city, with all the people that were out there, happily living their lives. Riza walked out onto the balcony to see what he was doing, walking up next to him, and looking where he was.

"Are you all done with your work for today?"

"Heh, yes ma'am"  
"It seems like you've got everything lined up ahead of you. With the current legalities you've set up, all you have to do is wait for the upcoming vote in November. With it being December, that's almost exactly a year of your current position, seems like you've got everything going for you."

"Well, almost everything…" Riza looked over at him.

"What do you mean sir?"

"Well…" Mustang leaned towards Riza and looked deep into her eyes.

"S-sir what are you d-" Riza tried to ask what Mustang was doing but was cut off by his lips on hers. She was frozen in shock, but also had instinctively closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss as well. They were kind of awkward at first, but once they really got into the moment, it became much more passionate, wrapping their arms around each other, and moving back into the office. Mustang hit the desk and Riza leaned further into him, taking charge of the kiss, both of them enveloping the other in their warmth. After a while of them going back and forth between making out, and taking breaths. Finally after a good, at least thirty minutes of just kissing each other, and getting out those bottled up feelings they had for so long, they stopped, as Riza pulled away. "Sir, what if someone finds us? You're still the Fuhrer, and I'm still just a Major, if we get caught we'll both be fired for fraternization. We can't be together until you're a president."

"I know, that's why we have to keep this secret. As long as we do this in private, then no one will know." Roy moved over to his door and locked it, and they went back to making out.

Alphonse woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling, and rubbed his eyes. He had gotten drunk last night, and had an extreme hangover. At first he had said that he couldn't but Ling had explained that the drinking age in Xing was lower than in Amestris. And so he had gotten drunk last night, and now he was laying here with a nasty hangover. He felt something on his chest and lifted the blanket that was on him to see a hand on his bare chest. He looked to his side and saw Mei who was asleep beside him in pajamas. Al looked under his blanket again and saw that he was only in his boxers. 'Did I? Did we? Oh no…' Al looked over at Mei again, and saw that she was still asleep. He put his hand on her and shook her a bit so that she would wake up. She opened her eyes a bit and yawned, she wrapped her arm around Al again and opened her eyes fully.

"Hey Mei, um…" Mei looked over at Al.

"Yes Al?"

"Did we um…"

"Did we what Al?"

"Last night, I got really drunk, and I don't remember a portion of what happened, so I need you tell me whether or not we had…"

"We had…?" Al leaned in and whispered under his breath.

"Sex…"

"Oh that's what you were worried about, well no, you got really tired and you passed out after you and Ling got half naked, and so I carried you in here and kept you company."  
"Oh thank god. I was worried about that…" Alphonse began putting on his clothes and combing his hair. 'Ugh jesus, my head feels like somebody based it open with a hammer.' Alphonse splashed some water on his face and put on his coat. "Mei, let Ling know that I'm headed out to go and take care of some stuff." Alphonse walked out of the palace and down to the train station where there was a phone. He tried to figure out where Ed would be at this point and decided to dial the northern train station. An operator picked up the phone, to which Alphonse said that he needed to speak to Edward Elric, and after a minute of silence Edward's voice came through the other end of the line.

"Hey brother what's up?"

"Ahh, hey Ed, ugh, so I ended up drinking a lot with Ling last night, and now I've got some major head pain."

"You got drunk Al?"  
"Yeah, the drinking age is lower here so Ling got me super drunk, and I ended up half naked and asleep."

"Well then you probably have a hangover."

"What's that?"

"Well you drank so much alcohol that a lot of the water got sapped from your body, and now your body hates you for it essentially. Just ask Ling to help you out, I'm sure he's got a few good remedies." Al said ok and Ed hung up the phone and began walking out of the north station. The cold hit his face and he smiled, it had been a while since he had been in the northern cold, and he enjoyed the feeling on his face. Ed took his first steps on the stairs and slipped, falling down the steps onto his ass. "Ah fuck… that hurt." Ed stood up and brushed himself off. Looking for where the carriage he had scheduled was. After walking around for a while he finally found it and hopped in the back. After two hours of riding in the back he arrived at the path he recognized from before. He hopped out of the cart and paid the driver, and began walking along the path, with the incoming snow obscuring his vision. He walked for about five minutes, and by then the snow had passed, leaving him to see the huge wall that was Fort Briggs. One of the guards ran up to Ed and pointed his gun at him, to which he put his hands up. "Wait wait wait!" Ed pulled the scarf down from his face revealing his identity. The guards let their weapons lower.

"Edward Elric?!"

"Holy shit! It's the god killer himself!" The two soldiers shook his hand and led him into the base.

"So what do you mean when you say god killer?"

"Oh well you've got quite the reputation around here, we've taken to calling you the 'God Killer.'" Ed chuckled at this and saw that they were almost at Armstrong's office. One of the soldiers entered the room and Ed could hear their conversation through the door.

"Major General Armstrong sir! Reporting sir!"

"At ease soldier, what do you have to report?"  
"Sir, we have been visited by Edward Elric, you know the God Killer."

"Hmph, bring him to me, anyone can claim to be a national hero, we'll see whether or not this is the real Edward Elric." The soldier came back out and told him to enter.

"Hello General Armstrong sir!"

"HA HA HA, it really is you! Knock off that saluting business, legendary heroes, who are retired don't salute people like me."

"Oh, alright then, hello Armstrong." Ed held out his right hand to which she grabbed it and gave it a hearty shake.

"Feels solid Ed, seems like you've really worked it out since you got it, it's heartier than your old automail one."  
"Heh thanks, I had to make sure it got to the same size as my other real one." Armstrong wrapped her arm around Ed and they began walking down the corridor. "So what have you guys been doing around here lately?"

"Well, I guess one of the really big things is my candidacy, Mustang is holding an election for the new leader of the country, and I'm running for that spot." They came to a door which Ed recognized as the medical bay. The two entered the room, where Neil and Patricia were residing. Neil still had his facial hair, but now he had more of a short beard, and Patricia was the same as always. "You guys remember Ed right?"

"Oh hey, it's the tiny kid from a few years ago."  
"Yeah, well I'm not so tiny anymore, I'm taller than you now Neil."

"Haha I suppose so." They sat down and began telling stories to each other for a while, going back and forth, and laughing at their memories of past times.

"And even just recently, Al called me, and told me he had a hangover, because the emperor of Xing had gotten him drunk."

"Wow, it seems like you brothers can't get away from adventure."

"Yeah, after I'm done here, I'm heading off to Creta to learn more about the different sciences and alchemy of the world, and me and Al are going to create something completely new."

"Well you bet your ass, that you gonna have to share that knowledge with us. We're at peace with Drachma now, but that's only because we kicked their ass in the last border war, but they'll be back eventually."

"Well what were planning is something to help people, not harm."

"Oh whatever." The group continued talking for a while, and then Ed got up to leave. The General left the room before him and Patricia held him to speak to him.

"You know Ed, with all this election stuff Armstrong has been quite on edge lately, and this is the happiest I've seen her in a while, so thank you."

"Oh yeah, well I was just stopping by to say hello you know."

"Well thank you anyways." With that Ed left the fort and headed back to the train station, and hopped on the connection train he was taking to west city. He would head to Creta from there but for now he just was happy that the people at Briggs still remembered him.

"Soldiers!" Roy's call out to the crowd of central soldiers was answered by a loud and collective 'Yes sir!' He breathed in and looked over to Riza who gave him a nod. "We are moving into an era of peace. And so we will no longer need so many men of the military, therefore I am offering you a choice. No matter what you choose, I will be letting off half of the entire military before the end of this year." This statement was met by gasps from the audience. "I will be letting off mostly lower ranking soldiers, but this does not mean you will have to be jobless. Any of you who choose to do so will be given automatic acceptance into our police training program and will be made into police officers. This is not mandatory, you have a choice, you can lose your job or accept a new career with no application. If you want to be accepted then stay in this room, if not you may leave now." After Roy said all this, only three men left the room that day.


	9. New Learning

Ed had arrived at the border of Creta, and was getting his credentials checked by the patrolman, who after checking his credentials put a stamp of approval on his passport and allowed him through. Ed got onto the train to Edmont station, the first city in Creta, and arrived in an hour at his first stop in the new country. He decided that the first thing he should do was get his money exchanged, and so headed towards a bank. He arrived at a small banking building, walked inside, and began the transaction. He was out of there very soon, and was looking around for a place to stay for the night. He walked along the sidewalk looking up at signs to try and find a hotel, when he slammed into someone and fell to the ground.

"Ouch, sorry about that." Ed looked down at who he had hit, and saw a blond haired and blue eyed kid, who had a similar stature to his brother, except he had a slightly different haircut. Ed reached his hand down and helped him up.

"Oh no that's ok." The stranger looked at the man who was helping him up. "Hey are you a foreigner?"

"Oh yeah, how could you tell?"

"Well in a border city like this you get to recognize foreigners, and besides that, I've never met someone with golden hair and eyes like yours."

"Oh well that explains it, my name's Edward Elric, how about you?"\

"I'm Allen Heiderich, wait if you're Edward Elric, doesn't that mean you're the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"Haha, it seems even people over here know about me then, yeah, well actually I used to be, I don't practice alchemy anymore, and I don't answer to the military anymore."

"Oh well you still know about alchemy though right?"

"Yeah, I have my knowledge, I'm just not allowed to use it, for certain reasons"

"Well then what are you doing here?"  
"Well I'm currently trying to find other techniques from other countries, and combine them with alchemy."

"Oh perfect! We should work together then."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Well I'm kind of a genius when it comes to Alchymia our countries version of alchemy, we use it for healing, but not many people use it."

"Well then it seems like I got lucky to find you then."

Alphonse picked up Jerso and Zampano and walked them back to the palace. Once they got there Jerso went into the kitchen and came back out with a weird looking drink in his hand. He walked up to Al and handed it to him, to which Al made a weird face.

"What's this Jerso?"

"You said you had a hangover right? Well this is what I always use when I'm nursing a hangover. Trust me drink it, but you'll want to do it fast." Al looked at the drink, shrugged and chugged down the drink, giving a shudder afterwards, and Jerso came over and gave him a pat on the back.

"My man! Took it like a champ!"

"Ugh what the hell was in that?"

"A mix of a bunch of stuff, but the main thing was raw eggs."

"Oh, that explains a lot." Al walked over to a pole and slumped down. Mei walked in and saw Al and ran over to him.

"Are you alright Alphonse?"

"Yeah yeah, sorry, I've just never had anything like this. I'm sure for Ling it's a lot worse considering he has to greet visitors all day." Mei bent down and massaged Al's temples to which he agreed, because it actually felt good. He hugged Mei and just stayed there for a bit, breathing deeply.

"Alphonse what about your head?"

"This is fine, it's better than any massage." They just stayed like that for a while until the doors to the west wing opened suddenly, which caused them both to jump. They both stood up to see who was there, both of them now much farther apart from the other.

"Oh Alphonse, I heard you were here." The new arrivals were Maria and Dennis, the ambassadors to the emperor, hand in hand and dressed to the style of the country.

"Ugh! Ah it's Mr. and Mrs. Brosh. How are you two?"

"Whats Ugh?" Denny asked with a surprised and confused face.

"Sorry, it's not you guys, I've apparently got a hangover."

"Really, I didn't think you would ever drink?"

"Yeah, Ling managed to pressure me into it."

"Haha, he would do that." Maria and Denny walked past and into a hallway leading to the palace.

"So what are you going to do for the rest of the day?"

"I'm going to try and do some exercise, and I guess drink a shit ton of water. What it is? Two o' clock?"

"Yeah?"

"Well then do you want to train with me a bit? We could also work on a little alkahestry afterwards. I don't know about you but some you and me time could be good for me." He looked up and smiled at Mei who gave him a soft smile back.

Roy sat alone in his office, having dealt with waves of people coming into his office for meetings. He breathed out a deep sigh, being Fuhrer was wildly more intense than being just some colonel. He had Riza, who he could sneak being with, under the ruse of her being his guard, of course they were extremely cautious while at work, but once they got to the Fuhrer's house inside central it was just those two, and all bets were off. He had given a statement to support his case for being voted into office to a reporter who was going to publish that into the news. He had dealt with tons of businessmen who were trying to get his endorsement, and his subordinates, Havoc and Breda had been in to report on all the new police trainees, and at least five tailors had been in so that he could give them the new design for the police uniforms, as well as the new military uniforms, along with combat uniforms. They were instructed to just work on perfecting the design and wait until they got the bulk number of the sizes from the new trainees. Before he got voted out or in to a less powerful role, he needed to improve the necessities that he could. And that meant making the important decisions while he could, and having a combat uniform that wouldn't stand out in the types of places where that blue color would, was one of those decisions. He took his glove off and sat it on the desk, putting the now uncovered hand on his face and rubbing his cheeks. A knock fell on his door, and he groaned a 'Come in' to which the door opened.

"You sound so disappointed to see me sir."

"Oh hello Riza, I didn't realize it was you, sorry, it's just this new workload, feels like more people came in to my office today than all my visitors back in east city combined."

"Seems like hyperbole, I thought you would have been more prepared for this kind of workload sir, have you bitten off more than you can chew?" Riza walked up to the desk and sat a stack of papers down on the surface.

"Man, you're ruthless, even more papers?"

"Oh relax yourself, this is just the transcripts from all your inbound messages. You just have to read these, other than that you have no more scheduled appointments, and you can go home for the day."

"Alright, thank you Riza." Hawkeye left the room and sat back down at her desk, waiting for Roy to finish up what she had given him. For now they could just focus on this work, but once August hit they were going to have to get a lot more intense. Half an hour later Roy left his office and shut off the lights.

"Alright I'm headed home, ready to go Riza?"

"Yes sir." The two walked out of the central office and to the Fuhrer's house, which the both of them still weren't used to living in, as it's size was vastly larger than any place they had ever lived in. Although they had worked on it together, and had made certain changes to the interior, and black hayate was currently living there as well. The two entered the front door and Mustang took his coat off, setting it lazily upon the coat hanger. Riza followed suit, setting her long black coat next to Roy's. Mustang was up in his room putting on his nightwear, which was really just a shirt and boxers. He was ready to lay down, but he went over to the stairs and sat down on the top step, just waiting. After a few minutes, Riza told the guards to go outside to guard the house, because she had covered the interior, and told them she would guard the Fuhrer for tonight. After they left Riza began walking up the stairs towards Roy, who was still waiting there.

"Ready to go to sleep?" Roy asked down to her.

"Too tired for anything fun tonight?" Riza gave him a look of condescending inquiry to which Roy stood up and rubbed his face.

"Even if I wanted to I don't think I could, there's too much stuff on my mind right now."

"Alright Roy, we'll just go to bed tonight, I suppose I'm quite tired as well." Roy began walking to the bedroom, shuffling his feet on the floor. Riza followed him getting in bed, turning the light off and pulling the covers up over them both. Roy turned over to Riza and wrapped his arm around her waist, and the two fell asleep like that.

Ed had gone to Allen Heiderich's home with him at his request, saying that they should share what they know with each other. Edward had only been with him for an hour, but he was already deeply interested in what he was being taught by Allen about alchymia. This country had found a way to turn one type of energy to another type of energy. They couldn't affect matter, as no one knew how to, but this alchymia had its own uses. It was in general harder to use, and there were more complicated circles of power, and it was quite different from the design of alchemy. But they could use it in combat to turn light energy from the sun, into heat energy on the other side of the battlefield, the catch was that it was unpredictable, and if you didn't know how to control it, you could cause a chain reaction of death due to the energy changeover spreading farther and farther. Allen had a good grasp of it and so he could safely use it, like the transmutation circle that existed on top of their house, that turned the sunlight that hit the rooftop into electrical energy for the lights in the house. And he could cook meat by setting atop a high place, and letting it fall, and turning the mechanical energy that was inside the meat into heat energy. Due to the unpredictability of this art, which led to such little research into the science of it, there was only a certain amount of energy types that Allen could use, that he had learned from his late father. Allen didn't like to talk about his father and so Ed didn't really know much about him, but he was allowed to look at certain parts of his research. Allen specialized in using alchymia for medical purposes, giving people more energy to use for healing themselves, which was almost like performing organic transmutation, but it wasn't exactly that, because alchymia couldn't directly affect matter, and therefore he wasn't changing the organism, but adding to its energy. Ed also was helping to teach Allen about alchemy, which he was able to get the basics of, as many of the base principles of alchemy and alchymia were the same. When Allen was first being taught, he had to learn about the cycle that energy flowed in, similar to the one is all and all is one of alchemy that Ed had to learn, and in alchymia energy could only be changed to an equivalent amount of energy, a type of equivalent exchange. But alchymia was also different from alchemy, to perform a transmutation, there was no energy that had to come from another source, and energy transmutations only involved the exact energy that was being transmuted. Ed was so enveloped into what Allen was teaching him, that he didn't even notice that it had become nighttime.

"Oh man, I should head out, it's getting pretty late and I haven't even figured out where I'm going to stay tonight." Ed stood up and brushed off his jacket.

"You could stay with us, I'm sure my mother wouldn't mind."

"Haha, it seems like nowadays I've only been staying at other people's places. I'll tell you what, I appreciate your offer, but I think I'd be best staying on my own, but I will be here tomorrow, to learn more from you, and teach you what I can." Ed got up and walked out of the house, leaving Allen alone in the house. Heiderich sat there alone and thought to himself, 'Don't worry Mom, I will save us both, I'll use this alchemy to bring our family out of debt.'

Al woke up the next day feeling a hell of a lot better than he did yesterday. He hopped out of his bed and put on his sweatpants, and slid a sleeveless shirt over his head. After washing his face off he walked out to the courtyard where he saw Ling sparring against Lan Fan at the usual time that they did. Usually one could find them out here at around nine o'clock in the morning and again at nine o'clock at night. They're sessions were in some part the training that it was supposed to be, but even after only having seen them at it a few times, he could tell there was some unsaid words between them. In a way it was like watching two people flirt, the back and forth of their fighting had a kind of flow almost as if it was a dance or a conversation. After a while of watching them go at each other, they finally wrapped up and began walking out of the arena. Ling began walking and noticed Al was there watching them.

"Oh hey Alphonse how long have you been there?" Ling headed towards the door that Al was standing by.

"Oh not that long, I just got up a half an hour ago." He kept walking past Alphonse and was about to pass him and go through the door when Al put his large palm on his shoulder. "You and Lan Fan, you're into her right?" Ling stopped dead in his tracks, and sweat started to bead up on his skin.

"What are you talking about Al?"

"You and Lan Fan, the way you fight, it's not the kind of fighting that you see between enemies or even between friends, it's the way two people who love each other fight. It reminds me of Ed and I. It's not only that either, you two have been so close to each other, since I got here you two have been right next to the other almost all the time."  
"Al… I don't exactly know what you're t-"

"Don't start with that I've had to deal with this kind of romantic tension for two years, living with my brother and his, hopefully at this point, girlfriend."

"Are you talking about Winry? So did he make a move on her?"

"I don't know, and don't try to change the subject, you need to make a move on her, or I'm going to make you, I don't plan on spending another two years dealing with that wishy washy bullshit. I know it's not like me to say something like this, but I'm seriously getting tired of dealing with this kind of relationship."

"What about you and Mei?"

"We already have an understanding of where our relationship is, and we don't beat around the bush like you do."  
"Have you even kissed yet though?"  
"No but that's only because I've been here for just four days." Ling saw Mei coming down the hallway but was too encased by this conversation to even notice.

"Wait you've only been here for three though." Al took his hand off of Ling's shoulder and turned his body to face him.

"Yeah I got here late the first day, and I ended up staying at this hotel."  
"What hotel was that?"

"I couldn't read the name, but it was really smoky in there and everyone seemed really chill." Mei had gotten close enough to join the conversation at this point.

"HAHAHA, Oh my god Al!"  
"What Mei?"

"You must've stayed at an opium den!"

"Wait, you mean a drug house?"

"Haha yeah Al, everyone in there was probably high." Al rubbed his temples and shook his head.

"Look Ling, that's besides the point, make your move, or I'll make it for you." Al let Ling go and turned towards Mei. "Alright ready to do this?"

"Yeah," They both began walking into the courtyard. "What were you two talking about?"

"Oh nothing important, let's do this, hands only."

"Ok, whoever can plant a kiss on the cheek of their opponent wins, alright?"

"Sounds like acceptable terms, just know I'm not going to go easy on you."

"That's funny, I was going to say the same thing." Both of them stood there, looking each other in the eyes, neither of them moving, the arena silent other than the sounds of birds chirping, and bugs calling.


	10. Closer

Ed walked along the streets, searching for a hotel to stay at. After only a few minutes of searching he found some place called the Lamp Post. He entered the front doors, which had a design of fire on them. He gave a hearty push on them and walked through to see a lit lobby, with barely anybody in it. The place was very calm, and seemed to have a warm feeling that resonated through Ed's body. He walked up to the front desk and told the woman that he needed a room.

"How many nights?"

"I'll probably be there for a week."

"Alright that will be one hundred and twenty Shoal."

"Thanks." Ed pulled out the money from his wallet and handed it to the lady who seemed a little surprised that he had that in cash.

"You be careful, muggers love to target foreigners like you who carry all their money on them."

"Thanks for the warning, I'll be careful." Ed took his stuff and the room key, and headed up to the floor his room was on. Once he found his room he plopped his stuff on the ground and laid out on his bed, recounting all that had happened that day. 'Man this whole Alchymia is strange stuff, it's almost as if they took the energy parts of alkahestry and mixed it with the transmutation abilities of alchemy, I'm on the brink of something huge here, I can feel it, If only I could practice it myself, then I would be able to reach what I'm looking for' Ed closed his eyes and fell asleep with his thoughts.

Al made the first move, running as fast as he could at Mei, the goal was to get as close to her face as he could, and kiss her cheek before she could get his. In a way this was both a battle of attrition and a battle of trickery. Luring one in with the hope that they could win, and turning it around on them. It was a fun way to build very useful skills, similar to how Izumi taught them combat, where it was a circulation of power, shifting back and forth between the two fighters. If one could master the ability to take one's power and use it against them, to master the flow of that power, then they could take on any opponent. Learning to feel and use the flow of the energy called chi was a part of that process as well, making it a powerful fighting tool. Rather than using the transmutation itself to win using brute force, like it's done in alchemy, they use the technique that allows you to use alkahestry, and transfer that into a battle. In this way one who has mastered the flow of chi could take on an opponent ten times as powerful as them. Just as alkahestry works better when the attacker uses more power, the fighter becomes more powerful, based on their opponents strength. Al got within a foot of Mei but then was flipped over her shoulder, to which he spun around and rolled into a landing. Mei took advantage of his dazed state and went in for the kill shot, getting right up next to his face and almost winning the match, before Al took her arm and swung her away. Running after her and trying to catch her on the rebound into the fighting area, he almost won too, but as soon as he thought he had it, he was grabbed, had his leg swept and opened his eyes to find he was in a leg lock by Mei, who put her face right up close to his.

"Looks like you lost Al."

"You forgot one big thing though Mei."

"What's that?" Al leaned his head upwards and kissed her on the cheek.

"The rules were, whoever lands a kiss on the other first wins."

"Oh you cheater!"

"Haha, my brother once told me that there's no such thing as dirty in a fight. Looks like I took a page out his book of tricks." Mei's face fell into a frown, and she crossed her arms. "Aww don't make that face Mei, it takes away from your beauty." Al leaned in and kissed Mei on the lips, which was kind of odd due to the position he was in, but he enjoyed it anyways. Mei's face lit up into a surprised smile. "There is that better?"

"Thank you Al, I enjoyed that."

"Well I did too, it seems that would make us officially together then?"

"Yeah… that was my first kiss you know…"

"That's funny, it was my first kiss as well." Al got up and wiped the sweat off his face. "That was fun Mei, we'll have to do this again." Al looked over and smiled at Mei, who gave him a warm smile in return.

Roy awoke to an overcast sky, with a soft light seeping into his room. He looked over to find the rest of his bed vacant. As usual Riza had woken up before him and was already ready to head out in full uniform. Roy decided that he should quickly get ready as well, so that he wouldn't keep her waiting. He slipped on his undershirt and socks, followed by his military uniform, after which he washed his face off and shaved. He walked out of the bathroom and saw Riza waiting for him by the door. He walked into the kitchen and got a piece of toast placing it in his mouth as he put his long black coat on.

"Ready to head out sir?"

"Yeah, today's going to be another busy day."  
"I suppose I should grab my coat as well, it looks like it's going to rain today. Unfortunately for you, today you're going to have to avoid being useless."  
"Jeez, that hurts…" Roy looked at Riza who gave no response, neither did she show any remorse. "Alright then, let's go." Roy planted a kiss on Riza's cheek and they set off towards the inner central building. Once they got to the building Roy headed straight for his desk, sitting down lightly, and looking through the papers he had received last night but had not looked over yet. He did this until Riza came in a while later with a note, and set it on his desk, waiting for him to look up from the document he had in his hands.

"What's this? Can't you tell I'm thoroughly invested in this wonderful letter about why we need to ban cars?"  
"It's a personal letter sir, I checked it for contraband and after seeing who sent it, I thought you might want to read it yourself." Roy looked down at the letter in front of him, which had some sloppy writing on the front of it that read 'To The Bastard Colonel, From: The Tall And Magnificent Fullmetal Alchemist' he chuckled to himself, and looked back up at Riza.

"Thanks Riza, you were right to bring this in."  
"You're welcome sir, do you know what this is about?"

"I think I might have an idea…"

"Then I'll leave you to it sir." Riza left the room and Roy, to himself, and went back to sorting papers, calls, and invoices. Roy picked up the letter and ran a knife through the top, opening a hole that he pulled the letter out of. He unfolded the paper inside and began reading it.

'Dear Roy,

This is the only time that I'll ever call you that, because this letter is coming to you in a more serious light. If you're reading this, it means that you managed to pull off that crazy dream of being the leader of this country. Which means I owe you some money, about 500 cens right? Ah, I'm just kidding, I know it's 520, which should be included in the letter. Now if you just looked inside the letter and found nothing, that's because I remembered something else. Back when we made the 520 cens promise, I said I would pay you back once you became the fuhrer, but I also said that I would borrow more money, and pay it back once this country becomes a democracy. So I took the liberty of that payment in advance, but don't worry, if you pull it off I've got another letter already sealed away, that you'll receive after it's done. Don't worry about how either, I've trusted all these letters to a friend of mine. You will get them, and if you pull off all the tasks I give you, there'll be a nice reward for you at the end of the adventure. I decided since you ordered me around for four years, while I was jumping through my own hoops, it was only fair that I gave you this. I know that doesn't sound too nice to you, so just think about it as a reminder of your goals, to guide you on the path so that what's important remains clear. It's not as if you're losing any more money, or gaining anything either. So just know that I've got my eyes on you, and if you stray from the path I'll beat your ass like I did during that assessment.

Sincerely Your Worst Fan,

Edward Elric.'

Roy sat down the letter and gave a hearty laugh that echoed off the bare insides of the office. He slapped his hand onto the desk, and wiped a tear from his eye. 'Thank's Edward, I suppose you are watching me still, wherever you are.' Roy called roza back in his office to ask her something.

"What is it sir?"  
"Well I was wondering if you knew who dropped this letter off?"  
"Yes sir, it was some private secretary named Sheska."

"Wait… I think I snuck a nap in from her office once. That's who Fullmetal trusted all his letters to?"

"I don't know sir, and I'm going to try and ignore the fact that you snuck naps in back then, but I think you should avoid using that term."

"What term are you talking about Riza?"

"Fullmetal, I think it best to try and avoid using the term Fullmetal when referring to Mr. Elric."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but when did you learn that Ed wasn't in the military anymore?"

"When Alphonse came through to give his regards before heading off to Xing, he informed me that Edward wasn't in the military anymore. Even if he hadn't told me, I would've assumed that, given I haven't seen him for about two years, and he would probably still report to you if he was still in the military. Anyways, even right after the promised day, I assumed that Ed would be leaving the military, as the whole reason they joined, to get their bodies back, had been fulfilled."

"Hmm, I suppose you're right, hey did all the medals that were backed up due to large order, end up finally getting printed?"  
"Yes sir, as of now most of the medals have been shipped, and there's only a few left to get out, those being the higher decorations, actually only the Militär-Verdienstkreuz have to go out, as those take a while to make, the intricacies add quite a lot of time to the process."

"Well do you have a list of the recipients left?"  
"Yes sir," Riza went to grab the chart, and came back in a minute with a list of names. "Sorry for the crudeness of the simple list, but I saw no reason to overcomplicate things. The last names on there are the high decorations, which you have to give out yourself. Grumman would have done it but they still weren't ready at the time, which awkwardly put you in the position of having to find someone to award you your Verdienstkreuz." Roy read through the list, noting that there were only a few names sitting on that list, Ed, Al, some men he didn't recognize, a man named Hoenheim. 'Wait isn't that Ed and Al's father? But he passed away… I even attended his funeral, as he was called a war hero…' Mustang figured he'd have to work something out about that, and handed the list back to Riza.

"Make sure that I'm notified the second that those medals are done."

"Yes sir." Riza took the list and left his office, leaving him to think about what he was going to do about awarding a medal to a dead man.

Edward awoke to rainy skies, and the pittering sound of drops hitting the window. He had fallen asleep with his jacket still on, and managed to not even pull the sheets over himself. After getting up and changing his clothes he went into the bathroom and washed his face off. Ed noticed that he had some stubble on his face, especially on the bottom of his chin. Although he couldn't really do anything about it, due to his lack of a razor, because he hadn't expected this to happen. He didn't really mind though, and decided he'd let his facial hair grow out while he was here in Creta. After examining his face, and deciding he would spot a new look, he took out his hair band, and let the back of his hair fall. He was feeling kind of spunky today, and so he brushed his hair until it was all smooth and then let it stay down. He grabbed his briefcase, and an umbrella and walked out of the hotel, and onto the street that led towards Allen's house. He checked his watch, and saw that it was nine o'clock in the morning and decided that Heiderich should probably be awake by now. He spent a while walking on the streets, enjoying the sights that he could see while there were so few people out. As he was walking the rain began to pick up, getting so intense that parts of the streets were flooding. He began to think that he shouldn't have come out here, but once he saw the Heiderich household, with light coming out from the inside, these thoughts were relinquished. As he walked up to the house he noticed a car that was there, one that he hadn't seen before. He began to hear voices from inside that he hadn't recognized, deep and angry voices. Ed got up close to the door and listened through it.

"We're tired of hearing that same old answer, and Boss is getting tired of waiting, you owe us for saving your asses when no one else could. So you should give back to your community, and _fucking_ pay what you owe us."

"Please sir, we already paid you everything you asked us, we can't give you anything more."

"You aren't taking into account all the extra effort we had to go through to cover your criminal charges." Ed went wide eyed, 'Man, I can't get involved in other countries affairs, I just need to turn away and ignore it.'

"But we never asked for your help! We planned to deal with it ourselves!" Ed heard Allen's mother's plead for help, over something she couldn't control. He sighed as he remembered what he and Al had spoken about, they wanted to give back to people, and help anyone avoid being subjected to a horrible fate that they hadn't asked for.

"That's why it's so much more, we helped you without you even asking, weren't we nice? We need your son, and his father's research, so we couldn't let you fall into a jail cell, especially when you're the only one who knows how to decipher his research. So, have the five hundred shoal ready by tomorrow or else we'll take the kid, we're done playing around." Ed got up and walked over to the car, after devising a plan to get that money he let the umbrella drop as he lifted the hood of the car and removed two of the fuses, hopefully if he had read the book correctly, those two fuses would stop the car from running if taken out. He slipped them in his pocket and leaned back against the wall and looked towards the door, waiting for it to open. The two men swung the door outwards and angrily walked to their car, the bigger of the two getting into the driver's seat and turning the key. The car made a clicking noise but didn't start up, causing the man to smack the dashboard, he turned the key again but to no avail. The man got out of the car and opened the hood of his car.

"What's wrong Vic?"

"I dunno, the damn thing just won't start." Ed hopped up off the wall and began to walk in their direction.

"Seems like you two could use some assistance?"

"Yeah could you help us?"

"Sure, for the right price."

"Ugh fine, name it."

"Five hundred shoal."

"Fuck that, what kind of shit is that."

"Eh it's fine, but the only mechanic in this area is five miles away, and good luck finding anyone else to help you in this pouring rain, and it's not very hopeful to think someone could come to tow or jumpstart you with how many flooded streets there are. I'm surprised even you two are out here." Ed began to turn around and walk away.

"Wait! No wait, fine I'll pay you, but you'd better fucking fix this car."  
"Thanks for your business." Ed collected the money from the sharks, and went to work on the car. He told the men to go and wait inside the car so that they could try and start it when he was done, as it was pointless to wait out in the rain. Ed took one of the fuses, which he had been chipping away at on the sidewalk, and had managed to put a sizable crack in the side of, into the spot that he had taken it out of, and inserted the other one in halfway, making sure that it wasn't tight, that way even if the cracked one didn't fail, this one would definitely come loose soon enough afterwards. He closed the hood and told them to start the car, which obviously managed to start up this time. The men drove off, and Ed saw them off with a wave, smiling because he knew that after a good ten minutes, they'd really be stuck. He walked back up to the front door of the Heiderich house and gave it a hearty knock. Allen opened the door and recoiled when he saw Ed.

"Ah! Who are you? Are you some brother of Ed?"  
"Allen, _I am Edward_ , I just put my hair down today, am I really that unrecognizable?"  
"Sorry Ed, it's just you're covered in rain, and you've got facial hair."

"Oh yeah I had planned on not getting it wet but some stuff came up."

"Well come inside then, I'll help you dry off." Ed came inside and sat down, where Allen drew a transmutation circle and began to heat the area around his head, causing the water to stop dripping and instead float around his hair. "Hey mom we've got a guest!" Allen's mom walked in to the room where Ed's hair was being dried.

"Oh my, is this that Elric boy you told me about yesterday honey?"

"Yeah he's the one that's been teaching me about alchemy."

"Well, hello Mr. Elric."

"Hello to you Mrs. Heiderich." Allen's mother walked back into the kitchen, which gave Ed some time to think about her. She had chestnut brown hair, and a smile just like his mother's, in a way she had a lot of similarities to Trisha, other than her eyes. Ed looked up at Allen, "Oh yeah, Al I forgot to give you this." Edward pulled the 500 shoal out of his briefcase and handed it to him. "This is for teaching me, I think that you could make use of it." Allen took the money in his hands and looked back at Ed.

"Edward…" Allen jumped up and squeezed him between his arms in a powerful hug. "Thank you so much!"

"Hey, don't thank me, thank your debtors, they're the ones who I got the money from."

"Wait… you didn't steal this did you?"  
"No no, I simply used a smooth mouth and a sly hand to convince them to give me the money. Now use it to pay them off and live life normally again." After giving Allen the money they spent the rest of the day teaching each other more about everything they knew about their respective fields. As Edward went to go out the door that day Allen held him for a moment,

"I really appreciate what you've done for us Ed, I need to apologize as well. I planned to use you to simply get past the debt, and didn't really think of you as a friend."

"Don't worry about it, desperate people go to desperate measures. I've seen it happen to others, and I know it firsthand. I'm just happy you didn't do anything drastic."

"Well, I've been thinking about it… and I've decided to show you my father's research, he may have been a fool, who went too far with his knowledge. But I think someone like you who has been to a place like that should be ok to show it to. So if you come tomorrow, I'll give you all his notes, and my mother can tell you what she knows about the code."

"Really? Thanks Allen!" Edward picked up Allen and squeezed him tightly in a hug.

"Well, I suppose you should only thank yourself, as you saved my mom and I, it's the least I can do."


	11. A Theory

Ed walked along the street with the bag weighing down upon his shoulder, making his way back to the hotel. He had decided that he would barricade himself in his room, and work on learning as much as he could. Once he walked into the Lamp Post he got weird looks from most of the staff due to the size of the bag he was holding, but he didn't really notice, as his excitement over what was in the bag was far too great for him to get sidetracked by anything at this point. He ran up the stairs and fumbled with his room keys to unlock his room, running in and setting the bag upon the floor. He threw his jacket off and opened up the bag which reeked of old leather from all the journals that sat inside the bag. Pulling out journals one by one, he began sorting the books by two types, unencrypted personal journals, and encrypted research journals. Allen said that his mother knew more about the encryption than he did, but when he asked her all she could really tell him was that her husband hid his research in personal codes, and that there might be some clues as to how to read his notes in his personal journals. Ed opened the first journal and began to read, making sure to look for any important personal information in the pages. The first couple of journals really didn't have anything interesting in them other than notes about him teaching Allen alchymia, but as he kept on reading he found something chilling in the words. As he read further, the mention of human energy, and using the body for energy, kept appearing, more and more frantically. He started to realize something about these notes, they sounded like something he had heard long ago. 'Yeah, this reminds me… of him, a poor family, nothing to turn to, and trying experimentation on humans. This poor family, at least Dr. Heiderich didn't do something to them, the only person he ever transmuted upon was himself.' Ed had pieced it together what had most likely happened to Dr. Heiderich, he had no money, their family was barely able to pay their bills, and he had tried to create something new by transmuting upon himself. Tucker, it was what he had done, and unfortunately for Allen, and his mother, Dr. Heiderich had fallen down the same path. Ed didn't resent Dr. Heiderich, or his research though, because the professor had a much better idea in his mind. Rather than sacrifice his family for himself, he sacrificed himself for his family, although Ed wasn't sure that he had the same thoughts in his last moments. As Ed read the last journal he understood so much about this man, and what he had wanted to do, but he came across a chilling read as he read the last entry.

'Red, it's filling my vision, I write this last entry as I plan to transmute myself. If all goes well I can restore myself and come back to my smiling family, a younger man. My arm, I can't feel it anymore, it's turned a dark green and purple. Perhaps when I took the energy from it, decay set into the sapped muscles. Blood is flowing out of it though, I think my heart is trying to keep up, but it's no matter. Once I transmute myself, the arm, my heart, all of it will be healed, and I'll be able to show my discoveries to the world. My family will profit from it, and we will be saved, that is what will happen. I've spent months on this theory of human transmutation, I know it will work, it has to. IT CAN'T FAIL! I've put too much into this… there's nothing left for me, if I can't do this there will be no point in my existence. My child is asleep, my wife too, Allen, if you're reading this, know that I love you, I'm sorry I couldn't teach you more, I'll be leaving the key to my box of research with this book. Find my stuff, learn more about alchymia, and don't touch my black notebooks. Marie, take care of our kid, I love you, and I'm sorry I had to go, but this was my only option. I have nothing, there's nothing, this is the only path I can take. Everything hurts, everything is becoming red, here I go.'

Ed sat down the notebook and closed it, thinking to himself. 'He was at his lowest point, and turned to human transmutation, just like I did so long ago. It seems like the fate is always the same for alchemist's like us, we turn to such extremes when things get low. If only he had realized that his son and wife were all he needed, he could've lived a happier life.' Ed looked at the notebooks he had sorted and saw two black notebooks, among all the brown and red leather bound journals. After peering inside of them he had his suspicions confirmed, with the pages covered in badly coded human transmutation theories. He closed the two outliers and tossed them into the garbage can, with a disappointment in his eyes. 'You may have had good reasons behind it, but you still committed human transmutation, and I can't let this go to anyone else.' Ed stood up and took a deep breath, trying to recenter his thoughts, moving into the research notes. He settled down with the first notebook, deciding that if he could decrypt one notebook per day, then he would be on a nice fast track to being out of the country with his new theory in hand, and see what Al had put together. Opening the first notebook, revealed that the code for the notebook was much more complicated than he had thought. Every single sentence seemed to make less sense than the last that he had read. As he kept reading his thoughts kept getting more and more scrambled, to the point where he couldn't think straight. He set the book down and stood up, pacing around the room, trying to figure out exactly what the notes could remotely mean. It seemed that Dr. Heiderich had been extremely careful in encoding the notes he had made of his research. Ed grabbed the notebook and walked down to the front lobby, to speak to the clerk.

"Do you know where the nearest phone booth is?" Ed asked holding the journal with a mix of frantic excitement on his face.

"Yeah, there's one down the street from here, only twenty feet down the way."

"Thanks!" Ed began hastily walking out of the hotel and down the street, making his way towards the phone. He was almost there, walking while looking down at the notes again, when he slammed into a huge man that was on the sidewalk in front of him. He fell to the ground and rubbed his head looking up at who he had hit. 'Man, I need to watch where I'm going in this city.' He got up off of the ground to get a better look at who he had hit, rushing off his bottom. "Sorry about that, I guess I should have loo-" Ed stopped once he realized who he had ran into, that being the mobster he had swindled a few days ago.

"Well well well, I've been looking for you,do you know how much shit I caught because of you?"

"Heh heh… I think I should really get going." Ed began to back away, but was too late, as the man took a swing at him with his huge fist. Instinctively Ed put up his right arm to block, instead of dodging, which led to a large amount of pain being transferred to his arm as it caught the blow. He cursed himself for not thinking through his move and went on to the offensive, running at Vic, who had pulled out a gun. Ed managed to grab his arm right before he shot, and deflected the bullet that came out off of his left leg. He felt it dent the metal but kept on going, using his speed and current advantaged position to deal a hard punch to Vic's nose causing him to stumble backwards in stunned pain. Ed moved towards the thug again and uppercut him, causing him to fall to the ground unconscious. 'Thank god I took those martial art lessons from Izumi, else I might not have done so well in that situation.' Ed walked over to the phone booth and dialed the police, explaining what had happened and then waiting for them to arrive. As he walked away from the phone booth his left leg gave out and he almost fell. Ed sat down on a nearby bench and pulled up his pant leg, to look at his automail. Looking at his leg, he realized that the dent he had felt earlier was actually the central hydraulic tube getting punctured. Ed hobbled over to the phone again and dialed the phone again, sighing in anticipation of the rant he was going to be on the receiving end of.

"Rockbell Prosthetic Outfitters, this is Winry speaking."

"Hey Winry, it's Ed…"

"Well it's my leg." As Ed said that he heard a deep sigh on the other end of the line that made him pull back from the phone in preparation.

"What did you do this time Ed?"

"I ended up breaking one of the inner tubes I think, and now the leg is acting finicky."

"I'd ask how you managed to do that, but I already know that you wouldn't tell me."

"Also, could you grab something else when you come?"

"What do you want me to bring?"

"I was wondering if you could grab my research notes."  
"Where do you keep them?"  
"They should be in a box under the guest bed at Pinako's house, they'll look travel brochures."

"So you want me to ride a train all the way up to Resembool, then you want me to ride all the way to Creta to come fix your automail?"  
"I would really appreciate it, they're for my research that I'm doing here and it's be a huge help…"  
"Alright Ed, I'll do it, just for you."

"Really Winry?! Thank you!"

"Don't mention it Ed, I might as well since I'm coming up there, anyways it's not like I don't want to see granny again so it'll be a nice opportunity to drop in and say hi."

"So you'll be up here soon?"

"Yeah Ed, I'll get up there as soon as I can, just be patient alright, Creta isn't some short hop from the south."

"Alright, well call me when you get into the country, remember I'll be at the Lamp Post hotel, just ask the receptionist, if you tell them that you're Winry Rockbell they'll give you a key and tell you where I am as well. I'll see you when you get here ok?"

"Yeah, bye Ed." He hung up the telephone, and walked away from the receiver, being careful not to put too much pressure on the leg to keep it from giving out. Since it'd be at least a day before Winry would arrive in the country, Ed decided to head back to the hotel and work on what he could figure out from the research notes. As he hobbled back, his right leg began to hurt from having all the weight put on it, which Ed didn't really notice until he got back to his bed and laid down. 'Even though the sentences aren't exactly cohesive, I suppose I could identify and mark all the significant words, and any phrases that might have a hidden meaning.' Ed sat up on the bed, and picked up another notebook, this time it was a brighter red color compared to the brown one he had looked at before. He opened it and looked at the first page, this time being confused again but for a different reason. The book had a bunch of different symbols, some of which resembled transmutation circles, others were just placed in assorted spots around the page. Although he could tell that all the circles had the same similar horizontally elongated shape, other than the transmutation ones, that was. He sat down the book and looked at another red one, which had the same sort of set up on the inside. Seeing a pattern he seperated all the research notebooks into two piles, one that had symbols, and the other for ones with words. Once he had done this two things had become clear, one, the notebooks were sorted by color, all the red ones were symbol books and all the brown ones were word filled. The second thing he realized was that there were an equal amount of red books as there were brown books. He had a notepad that he had written all this down, most of his theories and speculations as to what all of this could mean were on the notepad as well. He was developing a web of ideas and info that had amassed into a large map on the floor of his room. He had been able to figure out Marcoh's notes, and he had even made a large research collection that was all encrypted, so he was getting frustrated that he couldn't get anywhere with this. He had taken off all of his clothes other than his underwear, and was now furiously looking through each page for anything that he could figure out. Ed had been at this for seven hours now, and hadn't even noticed how fatigued he was, but his body did. And his body decided that he'd been awake far too long, so it decided to just fall asleep.

Winry had been through several train stations, making her stops quickly so she could arrive in Creta as soon as possible. Partly because Ed had asked her too, but also because she wanted to see Ed, as it had been a while since he had left. Considering he left her with a goodbye like that, she had reason to be in anticipation of this visit. As she sat on the train, a blush fell onto her cheeks as she thought about the kiss she had shared with Ed. In her hands was her automail repair box, with a few spare parts including a hydraulic tube inside, and a bag that held Ed's apparent research notes. She had been surprised to actually find them where he said they would be, and she had been even more amazed that they actually were travel brochures. Winry wondered how someone could keep their research notes inside something like that, but that's why she was an automail engineer and not an alchemist. The train screeched to a halt at Edmont station, and Winry got up and off of the train, entering the border city and looking for a phone. When she finally found a phone she dialed the number Ed had given her to call, which made her wonder why he hadn't just called her from the hotel earlier. She listened to the ringing tone for a while, which then was picked up by a staff member who, after a line of questioning told her that they hadn't gotten a response from Ed when they knocked on his door. She thanked the man and hung up the phone, beginning to search around for the Lamp Post that he had said that he was staying at. She walked around, asking the occasional stranger for another bit of direction that she would follow until she wasn't sure where she was anymore. A while later she managed to somehow find the hotel which she entered into the lobby of quickly. As she entered she realized why Ed hadn't called her from the hotel, as the phones inside were quite grimy and dirty, to the point of being repulsive. Walking up to the front desk she told the clerk that she was Winry Rockbell and that she was going to Edward's room, to which they gave her a key and told her where to go. She walked up the steps and down the hallway to the door of Ed's room, which she knocked on, to no avail. Taking the key, she unlocked and opened the door, and almost died laughing. She found her boyfriend on the floor, mostly naked, surrounded by papers and frantically scribbled writing. She walked into the room and set down her stuff, near the door, so she could take care of the situation in front of her. She avoided touching any of his papers, figuring that he had put them the way they were so he could work on something, and kneeled down next to Ed. He had fallen asleep with his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth turned downwards in a frown, and usually that would be a pretty ugly face to fall asleep with, but she liked seeing it. It was a face she hadn't seen in a while, since more than two years ago, it was the face he made when he was so intently focused on something that nothing, not even fatigue would stop him, to the point where he had obviously passed out from his body calling it quits. She decided that he could sleep a little while longer and began unpacking her stuff, and set out Ed's research notes on the desk for him. Winry decided to wake him up after another hour, reaching down and tapping his shoulder, to which he kept on snoring, and so she took her hand and smacked him across the face. Ed shot up in confusion and fear, rubbing his face, and looking around to see who had done it.

"What was that for Winry?!"


	12. A Discussion On Relationship Status

"You made me come all the way here, and then didn't answer the phone, leaving me to find my way here all on my own, and once I finally get here, you're half-naked, passed out on the floor."

"Hey, I was working on some important stuff, I didn't want to lose the lead I had, there's this feeling I've got like I'm on the verge of something big here Winry." He got up and sat on the bed, looking at all the papers, and Winry walked over and sat down next to him.

"Ed, I know how much you love your work, trust me, when it comes to automail, I'm the same as you are," She put her hand on top of Ed's. "But if we're going to do this whole relationship that we started on that train platform, then both of us, are going to have to start thinking about things other than our work, you know." Ed, at the mention of what he did on the train platform, blushed and turned away, which caused Winry to think about it as well and begin blushing.

"Yeah, you're right," Ed said, while turned away from Winry, trying to make the situation less embarrassing for the two of them. "But I suppose…" Ed mumbled something else while still looking away.

"What did you say, Ed?" Winry asked with a confused look on her face. Ed turned his face back towards Winry sharply, which caused her eyes to widen slightly.

"I think that if we're going to act more like we're together, then we should also do more stuff together!" Winry looked at Ed and the blush increased in her face, but she looked more relaxed. Ed leaned in towards Winry and put his arms around her shoulders, looking into her eyes intently. "You know, stuff like this." Ed moved his face forward and began to kiss Winry, not as passionately as the first time, but with a little more skill than the last time. Winry really liked this, she hadn't really thought about it but she had hoped this would happen when she came to Creta. As Ed moved his face around against Winry's she felt his stubble tingle against her face, which also added to the overall quality of kiss. After a couple of minutes, they both pulled away and blushes fell upon both of their cheeks, as they realized they both had unconsciously ended up laying down in the bed. They both shot up off the bed and looked at the other, with embarrassment, although they had both really enjoyed that moment.

"I-I think we should get to work on your automail…"

"Yeah, that would probably be for the best…" Edward sat back down on the bed and let Winry look at his leg. She examined the outside for a bit before lifting it up and feeling its movement.

"I was right, the main hydraulic tube is busted, which on the bright side is a fixable problem, without having to take the leg fully apart, but unfortunately I will have to detach the leg to get to it."

"Ugh, that's gonna be unpleasant…"

"I know, I really wish there was some way to reduce that pain that you have when the nerves connect."

"Don't worry about it Winry, having someone as nice as you to fix up my leg is enough, speaking of, as you know I stopped by Fort Briggs on my way here, and I spoke with a bunch of the soldiers there. I thought you might find it funny, they still hate me for getting such a pretty and skilled person like you. Those Briggs guys aren't used to seeing someone like you who's also as handy."

"Thanks, Ed, I think they should be jealous of you, it's not like you have that much to offer."

"Hey that's mean, I think that I am a perfectly desirable man."

"Don't get ahead of yourself there Ed. Hey, when did you start growing your facial hair out?"

"Ah, I just decided after I arrived here that I wouldn't cut it at least until I came back to Amestris."

"Hmm, I think you should keep it growing, it makes you look and feel a lot older than you are."

"You know I'm nineteen, it's not as if I'm some small child, I think that my height speaks more for that than my facial hair."

"Don't get a big head just because you're bigger than me." Winry detached the leg from the decoupler and took it over to the desk in the room. "Hey I'm going to go change into my work clothes, I don't want to get this nice dress all dirty from your automail incident." Winry began to walk over to the bathroom, with a set of clothes resting over her arm.

"If you are insinuating that this is somehow my fault, I'll have you know that I'm not the one who destroyed it. It's not like I meant to get shot." Hearing this Winry whipped around and looked at ed with anger and shock, which caused Ed to realize what he had just told her. "Wait, it's not like like that, I can explain please le-" But before he could go any further he got hit right in the head by a wrench. Winry walked into the bathroom and slammed the door, leaving him alone on his bed. He put his arms in his lap and looked down, thinking about what he had said, and regretting that he had. After a bit, Winry came back out of the bathroom with her clothes changed, and a much more content and calm look on her face. Ed looked up at her and decided that he should apologize, taking a deep breath to collect his thoughts. "Look Winry, I shouldn't have done that and I'm so-"

"No Ed, it was wrong of me to get angry like that, I don't like admitting I'm wrong, but I do need to support you when you end up doing something dangerous. But I'm not going to apologize entirely for being angry, because you need to learn to stop getting in so much trouble. I do realize though, that if I only get angry at you when you tell me about what you've gotten yourself into, that you won't want to tell me that stuff anymore." Winry sat down and got to work on the leg but still continued what she was saying to Ed. "You need to be more careful, and I hate it when you do stuff like this, you realize how lucky you are that he hit your automail and not your real body. But Maes once told me that I need to be there for you when you need me, so I'm going to try and not be so angry at you for telling me what is wrong with you." Ed smiled a bit, it was odd to hear Winry apologize for something, so he cherished this moment, and decided to reciprocate.

"I can't let you be the only one who gets to apologize, I suppose that I do need to be more careful, and I'm sorry for making you worry. If you are going to be more accepting of me telling you what I'm doing, then it would also only make sense for me to be more open with you, that would probably be for the better anyway since we're a couple and stuff…" Winry didn't say much but did give an agreeing nod. She really hadn't expected him to say something like that, and she wasn't sure what she should say back. But she was happy that he was willing to do so, and that lifted a weight off of her chest that she had felt for a while. After working for a while she had finally finished replacing the broken center tube and was ready to reattach the leg. She brought the leg over and attached it onto Ed who was absorbed in one of the notebooks he had gotten. He shot up from the bed and looked at Winry who had a smile on her face, and was looking right back at him. "Hey! Weren't you supposed to warn me before doing that!?"

"Yes, but you still need to learn your lesson and stop hurting yourself in the future. I thought that would be both an adequate punishment and a good reminder of why you need to take better care of yourself." Ed looked away angrily, crossing his arms to show that he was specifically angry at her. "Oh come on Ed, aren't you supposed to be a God Killer?"

"Yeah, but that still hurt…"

"Well, you shouldn't have been so invested in that book there, speaking of what are you even reading?"

"I'm not really sure myself… it's supposed to be research notes regarding alchymia, but they're encoded like nothing else I've ever seen before, which was why I asked you to bring my research notes, so that I could see if there were any similarities between the way that I encoded my notes and the way that these were encoded."

"So they really were research notes then, I can't believe it, they totally would just seem like a brochure to the average citizen."

"Yeah, I had to take extra care to make sure these wouldn't be decrypted by anyone, as some of them had my human transmutation notes inside of them." Ed began looking back and forth between the notes, and occasionally writing something down on his notepad. Winry chuckled to herself and stepped back to just watch him work. She had liked watching him work like this ever since they were little when he was working on his alchemy. She yelled at him at the time because he would get so into that he wouldn't even eat or pay attention to her. She could just enjoy it now though because she didn't have to worry about that, as they had mutually agreed to pay less attention to their work and to each other.

"Hey Ed?"

"Yeah, Winry?"

"Do you mind if I stay over here with you for a while?"

"You mean on the bed or something?"  
"No I mean in the country, I was wondering how you would feel if I stayed here with you."

"Sure do whatever you like."

"Really?!"

"Yeah, it's not like I'm going to be up here much longer, and I guess it wouldn't be so bad to go home along with you."

"Well, then it's a good thing I brought a few changes of clothes."

Ed went back to what he was doing, going through each notebook and noting what he could until he finally just threw down one of the books. "What's wrong Ed?"

"Sorry, I'm just seeming to get nowhere, and I know that there's something big behind this."

"Why not try asking Al, he might have an idea that you haven't even thought of." Edward gasped,

"You're right Winry!" Ed threw on his clothes and his long jacket and ran out the door, followed by Winry who was frustrated at his sudden urgency to get out of the hotel. Ed ran down the street to the payphone he had used earlier. He threw open the door and began dialing the number Al had given him to reach the palace where he was. After a bit of ringing a Xingese phone operator picked up and asked him what his business was, to which he responded that he needed to speak to Alphonse Elric. He was answered with silence which was then followed by a voice a minute later on the other end.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"It's Ed brother, I need your help."

"Oh! Hey, broth- what? Yeah, it's just my brother, Mei. Now, what was it you needed help with brother?"

"Well, I've been at these notes for a while, they're encrypted but not in any way that I've seen before, half of them are just random words arranged in confusing scrambled sentences, which I've tried to unscramble to no avail. The other half is just as confusing with circles placed around the page in random spots as well, the only thing I understand is that there are alchymia transmutation circles on certain pages."

"Well perhaps you're overthinking it, try simplifying it."

"What do you mean Al?"

"Perhaps the circles on the pages are not meant to be alchymia symbols but are used to uncover the code of it. Try overlapping the pages of the notebooks to see which arrangements of circles match with the words."

"Hey you might be onto something there, when I think about it, there was a fairly light trace of a transmutation circle on most of the pages."

"Well then try matching up each page to it corresponding circle page based on that and then you might be onto something, what was that Mei? Oh sure." There was a sound of footsteps and then a kissing noise. "Mei don't kiss me right now, I'm sure my brother is dying to get back to his work so tell him what you're going to say."

"Alright, Hey Ed."

"Hello Mei, how's it going?"

"It's been great, I need to ask your brother where he learned how to snuggle because he's a natural, anyways I just wanted to let you know that his studies have been going well and that he's become even more buff since he got here. Hey did you know? He was giving a report to the nobles in Xing, and when he entered they all bowed because they thought he was a prince."  
"Mei! Don't tell him that! It's embarrassing."

"Relax baby, he's your brother."

"Haha, I keep telling him he's a lady killer but he won't ever accept that he's as handsome as everyone thinks he is."

"Exactly, he's such a timid little sweetheart, anyways I just wanted to let you know how he's doing."

"Thanks, Mei, I appreciate it."  
"Yeah well, I've got to get back to making out with him, you interrupted us right in the middle of something important." The phone line clicked and went back to a flat tone, to which Ed set the phone back in the receiver. He stepped out of the phone booth with a shocked look on his face and looked over at Winry.

"What?"  
"Did you know that Al and Mei were together."

"No, Al never told me anything about that."

"I mean I knew that Al really liked her but I mean, I just got off the phone with Mei, who told me I had interrupted the two of them from making out… I just wasn't prepared for that."

"Hahahaha, that's something, I didn't think a kid like Al would be one to do that before I did."

"Well you know, we have kissed…"  
"Yeah, but we haven't really made out, but that's ok, I like where we're at right now." The two of them began to walk back to the hotel, holding hands. "So did you find anything out that could help you out?"

"Yeah, I'll explain more when we get back to the hotel." Once they arrived at his room, Ed took off his jacket and began to match up pages together. "So essentially I have to match up these transmutation circles together, and the words inside the circles will explain what I need to know. Actually, could you help me a little bit, if I match these up can you take them over to the desk, put them under the lamp and write down what it says?"

"Sure, Ed." As he went to work Winry worked at the same pace the both of them breezing through pages at an alarming rate.

"So essentially I think that if I can figure this out, then I can create a transmutation circle that could turn matter into energy and turn energy into matter as well. This is huge Winry, this could shake up everything that we know about alchemy as of this point. The medical field of alchemy would progress forward years with this. Organic transmutation would become much more possible, as cells created with alchemy could be imbued with energy from transmutation, allowing them to act as living cells. If we pull this off then Al is going to be the only person I let know about this. At least most parts, because if someone with bad intentions learned about most of this stuff it could be detrimental, but we will release very certain parts of this to the public."

"Woah Ed, this is really that huge?"

"Yes, Winry, the man who created this research killed himself with it, because he used it irresponsibly, and he didn't have the whole picture, if I can combine this with alchemy were going to move forward as not only an alchemical power but as a technological power."

"Well then, let's get this whole puzzle put together." As the two of them worked together that day, there was something there, a kind of determination and hope between them, that Ed would be able to do so much good with his knowledge. And fell asleep that night next to Winry with a smile on his face.


End file.
